


(Don't) Believe What You Know

by discordiansamba



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2018-07-16 20:03:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 173,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7282711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/discordiansamba/pseuds/discordiansamba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hattori Heiji always seems to find himself stumbling into cases tied to the supernatural. What Edogawa Conan doesn't realize is that there's a reason for this- and that Heiji's been keeping secrets of his own from him. Determined to discover the root of his friend's sometimes odd behavior, Conan launches an investigation, and quickly realizes that there are some secrets that are better off if they remain untold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Premonition

**Author's Note:**

> AN- With Blood and Snow nearly over, a new story begins! I actually have one other new Conan fic planned after this, aside from Blood and Snow's sequel, but that's an idea I still need to work out some more before I can actually get it underway. I'm pretty excited about this story because I think it's going to be fun to write and (hopefully) be just as fun to read. Obviously this branches off from the story line right after the Nue arc.
> 
> Anyways, as always, I hope everyone enjoys! Thanks for reading!

Reflecting back on it, it was a bit hard to pinpoint exactly _when_ all of this began.

Hattori Heiji, Conan thought, was honest to a fault. That was both a positive and a negative, depending on what you needed him to do for you. If you needed him to keep a secret, it was most definitely a negative. If you wanted someone you could trust with your biggest, most dangerous secret, it was definitely a positive.

It was no exaggeration to say that Conan trusted Heiji with his life. Considering the nature of his secret, the Osakan high school detective was essentially carrying his life in his hands every single day. And while he might bumble names, Heiji would never _willingly_ expose Conan's secret.

Edogawa Conan- no, _Kudo Shinichi_ , trusted him explicitly, beyond a shadow of doubt.

And that was exactly the reason he hated having to suspect him of anything, much less of keeping secrets from him- important secrets. Because as it turned out, just because one was honest to a fault, and was terrible at lying, that didn't mean that they couldn't lie and it most decidedly didn't mean that they couldn't keep secrets of their own.

So, when was it, exactly, that doubts formed in his mind in regards to the detective of the west?

The mysterious child abduction case? The blank paper murders? The Kaito Kid heist? What about the incident at the supposedly haunted manor, or what had occurred during the visit to Osaka?

Was it when he learned about Heiji's mysterious disappearance as a child? Or was it because it had come to his attention that there were things that his own parents didn't know about their son? Or perhaps, he thought, it was because he had been keeping things from his childhood friend, Kazuha, things that didn't involve his romantic feelings for her.

It could have been his mysterious relationship with that beautiful but strange black haired girl, one that he didn't seem willing to expand upon. Perhaps it was simply because he'd finally decided to stop and question why he always seemed to get involved in so many so-called supernatural cases in the first place.

No. It was none of those. When he really thought about it, then without a doubt the start of everything was none other than that fortune.  
________________________________________________________

"Worst luck, huh?" Ai's tone was laced with a light hint of amusement, as she peered over at the fortune that he'd just unfolded. "It's been awhile since I've seen something like that."

"It doesn't matter. It's just a silly fortune." Conan observed, shooting her a look. "Everyone knows this sort of thing is fake anyways."

"If you insist, Kudo-kun." Ai said lightly.

"And? What kind of fortune did you get if you're going to try and rub mine in my face?" Conan asked, shooting her a look.

"Small luck." Ai said simply, shrugging her shoulders. "Not too bad, all things considered."

"Eeh, did you get a bad fortune, Conan-kun?" Ayumi asked, quite literally poking her nose into the conversation. "Worst luck! That's bad, Conan-kun. You'd better hurry and tie it up, before it sticks!"

"Like I said, this sort of stuff's not real. There's nothing to actually worry about." Conan insisted.

"This shrine's fortunes are said to be spot on, though." Mitsuhiko noted, peering at the fortune himself. "Let's see here... 'Your faith in a close friend will be shaken as you unravel the secrets they've been hiding. The imposter close to you will soon be in grave danger. Be careful of clinging too closely to previously held beliefs. Be wary of the sound of flutes.'. I understand what the first line and the third line mean, but what does the second one mean by an imposter? And why should you be wary of flutes?"

"Maybe it's about Kaito Kid?" Ayumi asked. "You know, because he pretends to be other people. But I don't really understand why it would warn you about him being in grave danger... wouldn't that just mean he would be close to being caught? Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"Oh, you mean that thief who pretended to be me once?" Genta asked, finally joining the group. "Ayumi's right though, Conan-kun. You should probably tie a fortune that bad up right away."

"Alright, alright." Conan heaved a sigh, finally relenting to the demands of the genuine seven year old children around him. "I'll tie it up if that'll get all of you off my back. See?" Walking over towards where the other fortunes were tied, he neatly tied off his own, before turning back to them. "All tied up. There's no bad luck anymore."

This seemed to perk up the other three Detective Boys right away, and Conan let out another sigh. What exactly was he doing spending a Sunday morning with a bunch of children again? He'd had other plans for the morning when Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta had all but invaded the detective agency, declaring that they were all going to visit a shrine to get fortunes. Ayumi had apparently heard about their super accurate fortunes, and had wanted to go ever since.

"Honestly. Dealing with children is troublesome." Conan mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. Well, even thought he said that, he still allowed himself to be dragged along by them, so it wasn't exactly as if he completely hated it. Even if he did think fortune telling was a load of nonsense.

"Someone who looks like a child himself really shouldn't be sayin' somethin' like that."

It took him a second a place to voice, and another second to place the telltale accent. Approximately three seconds passed all told before Conan whipped his head around, all but pivoting on his heel to come face to face with none other than his fellow high school detective, Hattori Heiji. The dark skinned teenager was peering at him from behind the metal wire rack where the fortunes were tied up, a huge grin on his face no doubt due to having once more successfully snuck up on him.

One of these days, Conan was going to find out how he kept _doing_ that.

"Hattori?!" Conan took a step back, only dimly making out the excited voices of the Detective Boys as they recognized Conan's so-called 'detective teacher'. "What are you doing in Beika? Shouldn't you be back in Osaka?"

"Don't worry 'bout why I'm here." Heiji said, his grin only growing as he walked around the wire rack, kneeling down in front of Conan and ruffling his hair with a good deal of vigor. "I heard from that Professor uncle that you an' the tyke squad over there were comin' to this shrine. Thought I'd see if I could catch up with the lot of ya."

Honestly, Conan wasn't entirely convinced. Whenever Heiji showed up in town, there was usually a case following him not far behind- and he doubted that this was an exception. Still, his cap was backwards at the moment, so he probably wasn't in the middle of chasing one right now, at the very least.

"Really? I thought for sure you'd still be licking your wounds, Hattori." Conan spoke up, putting on his best cheerful child smile. "After all, just recently you completely failed to confess to Kazuha-neechan, right?"

"Eh, is that so?" Ayumi asked, the other members of the Detective Boys having joined them now. "Did you really try and confess, Heiji-niichan?"

Shooting a glower towards his pint sized rival, as if warning him that he was going to pay him back for this later, Heiji turned towards Ayumi and the others, flashing them his best grin. "W-well, I wouldn't exactly say that I failed! It just wasn't the right moment, that was all!"

After all, who could confess with members of the JSDF lurking around anyways? Nobody in their right mind, that was who. Honestly, that entire trip had been a bust- he'd been able to accomplish nothing he'd actually set out to do. Granted, he'd been able to solve a murder case- but it wasn't like he'd set out to solve one in the first place, so that was kind of a moot point, all told.

"It's always not the right moment with you, Hattori." Conan observed.

"Well, I don't think you're really in a position to lecture him." Ai noted lightly. "And? Surely you didn't come here to get a fortune for yourself as well, Hattori-kun?" She asked, glancing up at him. She didn't know the dark skinned detective that her fellow shrunken teen trusted with his secret all that well, but from what she knew of him through Conan, he was apparently just as skeptical of such things as he was- even if he _did_ regularly carry around an omamori.

"A fortune?" Heiji blinked, tilting his head slightly. "Well, I might as well since I'm here after all. This shrine's supposed ta have real accurate fortunes, right? I heard about it from Kazuha before."

"That's right!" Nodding her head, Ayumi beamed broadly, before pointing behind her. "You can get them from over there, Heiji-niichan."

"Oh, thank ya!" Beaming, Heiji briefly reached down to ruffle her hair, before he headed over to get a fortune of his own. Even from a distance, Conan could still see his expression grow gloomier by the second as Heiji opened up his fortune, before he silently retreated back towards them, tying it up without so much as a single word.

"That bad, huh?" Conan couldn't help but ask, arching an eyebrow. "For a detective, you sure are fast to believe in superstitions, Hattori."

"Shut up." Heiji huffed a little, tying off his fortune in a neat little knot. Whatever gloomy mood had descended upon him upon reading his fortune was instantly wiped away with his next grin, looking at the assembled Detective Boys before him. "Hey, ya wanna go grab somethin' ta eat? It'll be my treat!"

The overwhelming answer to the offer was of course, yes.  
______________________________________________________

"So? Are you actually going to tell me what you're really doing back in Beika again so soon, Hattori?" Conan observed.

"Can't a guy just come over ta visit his best friend?" Heiji asked, blinking. It had been a rather noisy lunch, which began with discussing their fortunes- Genta and Mitsuhiko had gotten medium luck, with Ayumi being stuck with the very unclear 'Uncertain Luck'. Something good was supposed to happen on the heels of something bad, or so it said. As for Heiji's fortune, he'd been rather cagey about it, just grumbling to himself that it had been bad.

He had made a slight face after Mitsuhiko had rattled off what Conan's fortune had said, but the shrunken detective hadn't noticed.

The Detective Boys having long gone on their way home, Heiji and Conan were left behind together, finally giving Conan a chance to ask him the real questions.

"Not when the person in question is you, Hattori." Conan said simply. "So, what brings really brings here today? A case? If you need my help, all you need to do is ask, you know."

"It's not a case, an' I don't need yer help." Heiji snapped lightly, before grumbling a little. "I just had a bad dream, that's all, Kudo. I just wanted ta make sure ya were alright. Considerin' what happened the _last_ time ya showed up in my nightmares."

"Ah." Conan said lightly, his brows raising ever so slightly. " _That_."

"Yeah." Glancing away from the boy's sharp gaze, Heiji rubbed the back of his head. "Ya might mock me fer bein' superstitious, Kudo, but ya gotta at least trust me on this one."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I'm not about to chase you away." Conan shrugged his shoulders. To be honest, he still chalked up Heiji's supposed premonition to being nothing more than coincidence- as well as the protection his omamori had ended up providing him. But he knew enough to know that Heiji had been deeply worried about him that time, enough to part with something that was precious to him- even though he hadn't been willing to admit it back then. Out of the two of them, it was Heiji who had ended up the most badly hurt, and he still had the scar to prove it. 

It wasn't like he was going to mock Heiji outright for it, in the end. Tease him a little perhaps- but he had no intention of outright blowing off his concerns.

"That's great ta hear, Kudo!" Heiji seemed to perk up at his words, turning back to the boy with a huge smile. "Especially since I was plannin' on crashin' at yer place tonight!"

"I suspected as much." Conan merely heaved a sigh, having more than gotten used to this kind of wilful behavior at this point. Heiji was the type of guy who went at his own pace, after all, and had a tendency to drag everyone around him up into it, whether they liked it or not. Conan had yet to determine in which of these categories he belonged. "By the way, Hattori. How did it go with Kazuha after that?"

"Eh? Ah..." Heiji trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck, his cheeks tinting a faint shade of pink. "Well, I don't think she realized the reason why I brought her out there in the end. Well, I guess that's fer the best. I can just try again."

"Maybe you should try picking a place that doesn't have a monster legend to confess?" Conan suggested lightly, quirking a brow.

"Shut up. I didn't know about the nue stuff until after I got there." Heiji huffed, his lips twisting in a frown. Besides, Kazuha wasn't nearly so afraid of supernatural creatures and legends if Ran wasn't around- it seemed that she kind of ended up mirroring the other girl's fears when they were together. "Although don't'cha think it'd be interestin' if somethin' like that turned out to be true at least once, Kudo? It'd be a huge scoop!"

"Not really." Conan shook his head. "The world's probably better off without that sort of thing being real."

"Ah, is that so." Heiji blinked, looking slightly crestfallen. As usual, he wore his heart completely on his sleeve. "I thought it might be kinda neat, a little, dependin' on what were talkin' about, mind ya."

"You just want to try your kendo skills out against a monster, don't you?" Conan asked.

"Ya caught me." Heiji admitted after a moment, flashing a grin. "Well, ya saw how good I was back with that whole fake zombie business, right? I'm pretty sure I could take on a monster if I tried. Speakin' of that case though, ya should have seen the look on yer face when those extras broke through the window. It was somethin'!"

"Shut up." Conan hissed. "Your face wasn't that much better."

"My expression was plenty fine, thank ya very much." Heiji said with a light huff. "Well, ya missed my tournament that one time, so I guess that's as close as you'll get ta see my skills fer awhile. Unless I can convince ya to come to Osaka again fer the next one?"

"The only reason we ended up missing you in the tournament was because you ran off to go solve a case." Conan pointed out. "But well, I probably would have done the same thing in your position."

"Ah, that's right, now that ya mention it..." Heiji laughed a little, having already forgotten the exact circumstances as to why he'd missed most of the tournament in the first place. "Kazuha was pretty at mad at me fer like a week afterwards. Well, the other guys in the kendo club had gotten pretty used ta that sort of thing by then, so they weren't all too bummed about it."

"You really do go at your own pace, don't you, Hattori?" Conan observed. "Ah, but that talk about the fake zombies reminded me- do you know what those three have started calling you now?"

"Me?" Heiji blinked, easily figuring out that by 'those three', Conan was referring to Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta. "No, what?"

"They're calling you a secret monster hunter." Conan said with a grin and a snort. "They said it's because I always get dragged into fake supernatural cases whenever you're around, Hattori."

"O-oh, is that so?" Heiji laughed, his odd reaction quickly gaining Conan's attention- there was nervous chord in his laugh that was strange. Not to mention the way he quickly moved to avoid eye contact, by looking literally everywhere else other than Conan's face. "How 'bout that? Now that ya mention it, I do seem ta run into a lotta cases like that. I never really thought about it before."

"Well, once you get a reputation for that sort of thing, it gets around." Conan said with a simple shrug, deciding to let Heiji's slightly odd reaction go. "As long as you don't let it get to your head like a certain _somebody_."

"On the list of people I wish I'd never met, I'm pretty sure that Gunma Inspector is among the top." Heiji dryly observed, grimacing at the mere thought of being lumped into the same category as Yamamura. "Honestly, is Gunma's police force really goin' ta be alright with that guy?"

"It's a grim future." Conan noted. "Imagine if he ends up climbing the ladder even higher."

"No." Heiji said shortly. "I don't wanna imagine that Kudo, an' yer not gonna make me. That's more horrifyin' than any would-be monster."

"Well, you're not wrong." Conan laughed. "By the way, exactly how long are you planning on hanging around here, Hattori? I know you might be worried about me, but it's not like you can just camp out around the agency waiting for the off chance that something is going to happen to me."

"Well, probably not too long." Heiji was quick to reassure him. "At most I'll linger 'round fer a day or two. There's no school anyways, so I've got plenty of time ta kill in the first place. Once I make sure my precious best bud is safe an' sound, I'll probably head on back towards home."

"Good, because I'm pretty sure a day or two will be Uncle's limit in putting up with you, especially when you show up out of the blue like this." Conan noted. "Which granted, with you, is always. I can't remember a single time when you've shown up with warning like a _normal_ person."

" _Rude._ " Heiji almost pouted. "I come all the way out here, leavin' behind my beloved Osaka just ta look after my good friend, an' this is the reception I get? Honestly, Kudo, it's like ya don't value our friendship at all."

"I'm just joking, don't worry about it." Conan told him, before glancing up, spotting Ran just ahead of them. "Ran-neechan!" He called out, waving a hand to get her attention.

"Oh, Conan-kun?" Ran asked, glancing behind her, having to do a double take when she spotted Heiji next to him. "And Hattori-kun! What are you doing here? Is Kazuha-chan here too?"

"Nah, I left her back in Osaka." Heiji told her, flashing the girl a broad grin. "I'm gonna be crashin' at yer place fer a day or two, hope ya don't mind."

"I don't mind at all. The more the merrier!" Ran was quick to say. "But I'll need to buy a bit more for dinner in that case..."

"Then, I'm lookin' forward to spendin' time with ya, Neechan!" Heiji said, before scooping up Conan, completely ignoring his protests at being so suddenly and abruptly picked up for no reason. "An' of course, this fellow right here!"

"You two are close as ever, I see!" Ran said with a slight chuckle. "But Hattori-kun, I don't think Conan-kun really likes being carried that way, so you should probably put him down."

"But he's so very portable." Heiji's voice had a slightly sullen note to it upon being scolded, but he did at the very least put the shrunken detective down. "I can't help it."

"Well, I can't say that I don't know what you mean..." Ran admitted, trailing off a little. Conan was extremely small and light, after all. "Are you here on a case though, Hattori-kun?"

"Nah, not this time. Just on some other business." Heiji was quick to say. It was best not to mention anything about prophetic nightmares to her anyways. Oh, there was no doubt she'd fully buy it unlike Kudo, who he was pretty sure was just humoring him to a degree- but then he also knew that she'd stick fast to Conan's side the whole time, and that would make things real difficult for the shrunken detective real fast.

Heiji put far more stock into his dreams than his shrunken rival would ever know- and he planned on keeping it that way, to be honest. The detective of the east might be his best friend, but there were things that Heiji thought would be best if he never mentioned to him.

"I'm surprised though, Hattori-kun. I thought for sure the reason why you were here was because of the missing children." Ran said with a small frown.

"Missin' children?" Heiji asked, blinking a little, her words quickly catching his interest. "What do ya mean by that, Neechan? Ya got a kidnapper runnin' around or somethin'?"

"Something like that." Ran said with a small frown. "I heard about it from dad. The past three nights, children have gone missing from all over Beika. Their parents would just wake  
up in the morning to the realization that they weren't in their rooms. The police haven't been able to find any trace of them yet, or of the culprit."

"I see." Heiji frowned, his brows furrowing together. Briefly, he cast a glance down towards Conan- which he couldn't help but take note of, considering it wasn't the usual conspiratorial one. One of worry, maybe? Well, he did look like a child, he guessed, and it wasn't like Heiji had actually told him the content of his so-called precognitive dream. "That does sound pretty troublin'. And ya say it started around three nights ago?"

"That's right." Ran said, nodding her head. "It's more than one child a night as well. If I recall, three nights ago, three children went missing, and on the following two nights, the number of children that disappeared was four and six respectively."

"I see." Heiji said with a frown, folding his arms in front of his chest, processing this information. "That's quite a number fer just one night. Do the kids live in the same area, maybe the same apartment?"

"No." Ran said, shaking her head. "That's just it. They've been scattered all over Beika so far."

"I see." Placing a hand on his chin, Heiji mulled over this information. "I might as well try an' look into it while I'm here. What about you, Ku- no, Conan-kun?"

" _Hattori-kun._ " Ran's tone was rather sharp, more than enough to make the dark skinned detective flinch. "Don't get Conan-kun involved in a case that involves missing children. I know he likes to learn things from you, but I'm worried enough about him as it is!"

"Ah, sorry, sorry, Neechan." Heiji laughed a little, sheepishly glancing away from her. It was too easy for him to forget sometimes that other people didn't know that 'Edogawa Conan' wasn't the child that he claimed to be, after all. "I promise I'll keep Conan-kun far away from it, alright?"

"That's good." Ran said, nodding her head. "Well, in that case, I'm going to finish up my shopping. But feel free to go ahead and make yourself at home, Hattori-kun! And don't worry about what my father might say, you're always welcome at the agency anytime."

"Oh, thank ya, Neechan!" Flashing one of his characteristic grins, Heiji waved at her as Ran headed off to complete her errands. He waited until she was out of earshot until he glanced down at Conan, quirking an eyebrow at him. "An'? When were ya plannin' on mentionin' this case ta me? There's no way ya aren't the least bit curious about it."

"Well, I am." Conan said, a considering look on his face. "But given the number of children going missing and the distance covered every night, we're obviously dealing with more than one person here. That's all the more reason to be careful. Besides," the shrunken detective looked up towards Heiji. "I thought you had other concerns of your own bringing you here."

"Well that might be true, but there's no way I can turn a blind eye ta somethin' like this. But don't worry, Kudo! I'm pretty sure I can look after ya an' solve this case at the same time! It'll be no problem at all!" Heiji reassured him.

Conan mumbled something underneath his breath about not needing Heiji to look after him, but his protests, of course, fell on deaf ears. After all, once Heiji got an idea in his head, he wasn't the type to let it go so easily.  
________________________________________________________

As expected, Mouri Kogoro did not enjoy the idea of obtaining another freeloader, least of all a loudmouthed brat from Osaka who fancied himself a detective. Biting back a remark that the only reason Kogoro had the prefix "great" attached to the "detective" part of his occupation was because of Conan's own deductions, the two simply decided by and large to ignore Kogoro's ramblings.

Of course as Conan quickly learned, being 'looked after' by Heiji meant the Osakan detective basically not leaving his side the entire time. Whenever he left the room, Heiji was sure to get up and follow right behind him. For a moment, Conan couldn't help but be reminded of a faithful dog following it's owner from room to room- except this 'dog' was a human being with a strong Osakan accent instead of any kind of fuzzy companion. As the day turned into evening, and evening turned into night, it increasingly started to get on his nerves.

"I'm pretty sure that nothing bad is going to happen to me in my own house, Hattori." Conan observed, heaving a deep sigh as he turned around to look at the teenager who for all the world, looked ready and willing to follow him into the bathroom. "I'm just going to take a bath. I don't plan on drowning in the bathtub anytime soon."

"Well, ya are _real_ small." Heiji said, indicating with two fingers what he roughly thought about Conan's height. "But I can't help but worry, ya know?"

"Honestly." Conan grumbled, scratching the back of his head. "What was this dream supposed to even be about if it's got you this worried?"

"What's this about a dream?" Ran asked, peeking out of her room. "Ah, sorry. I wasn't listening in or anything, I was just..."

"Ah, no, it's nothin', Neechan." Heiji said quickly, shaking his head. "Nothin' ya need ta worry about at all. We were just talkin' about this kid's dreams, right, kid?"

"Ehhh, we weren't talking about that at all Heiji-niichan. There's no reason to hide it!" Conan blinked, putting on his best impression of a cute child, even as his fellow detective glowered at him. "You know, Ran-neechan, Heiji-niichan here said he had a bad nightmare about me, and that's why he came all the way here to Beika just to see me!"

"Is that true, Hattori-kun?" Ran blinked, a slight frown on her face. "I thought you weren't the type who believed in that sort of thing."

"Ah, well." Heiji began, suddenly finding literally every part of the hallway other than where Ran's face was located _immensely_ fascinating. "Ya know how it is, right? I just wanted to come by an' make sure the kid was really alright after that, that's all!"

"I see." Ran said, chuckling a little into her hand. "You're really like a brother to him, Hattori-kun. I think that's why Conan-kun looks up to you, you know?"

"Oh?" Heiji's eyebrows shot up as he all but leered down at the pint sized detective, amusement obvious as anything in his eyes. "Is that so? The kid looks up ta me, is that how it is?"

"It is!" Ran nodded her head, her smile rather blissful. "That's why you're always hanging around Hattori-kun whenever he's around, right, Conan-kun?"

Forced into a corner, Conan had no choice but to begrudgingly agree- but that didn't mean he'd let Heiji win this round. "Y-yeah. He's not as cool as Shinichi-niisan, but Heiji-niichan is still pretty amazing!"

The twitch that got from Heiji was definitely worth it, Conan thought to himself. "Hmph! I'm _way_ cooler than that idiot, _idiot_!"

"Now, now, there's no reason to fight." Ran said, smiling at the boys. "Hattori-kun, the bath is free if you want to go ahead and use it."

"Ah, that's fine, the kid was in line 'afore me, I'll let 'im use it first." Heiji told her, still shooting Conan a dirty look in regards to his earlier comment.

"Then, I'll go ahead!" Casting one last sly look towards Heiji, Conan darted into the bathroom before the Osakan detective could follow behind him like the worried mother hen he was acting like. As Conan shut the door behind him, Ran peered over towards Heiji, sliding up until she stood beside him.

"So?" Ran asked, glancing at him from the side of her eye, not wanting to look too obvious. "How did it go with Kazuha-chan after that?"

The way Heiji managed to mix the grumble of annoyance at being asked the same question again twice in one day, and the flustered embarrassment from what it meant was nothing short of impressive, Ran thought. The Osakan detective was always one given over to high emotion, and this clearly was no exception.

"Well, it kind of hasn't..." Heiji trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck, before he blinked, looking wide eyed over at the girl beside him. "Wait a second? How do ya know about that in the first place? Did Kudo tell ya?"

"No." Ran said, shaking her head. It was the first time she'd heard that Shinichi knew anything about Heiji's feelings for Kazuha, though. She was a little surprised. "It's just kind of obvious."

"...eh?" Heiji blinked, for a moment at a loss for words. "...Is it really that obvious?"

Honest to god, it was starting to sound like he was the only person who hadn't noticed the fact that he had feelings for Kazuha up until now. Did this honestly mean he was the last person to know about his own crush? Some great detective he was.

"Yeah." Ran said, slowly nodding her head. "For awhile now, really. But it's alright, Hattori-kun!" She was quick to reassure him, patting him on the shoulder. "You can confess to Kazuha-chan next time! I can even help if you like."

"No, this is kinda somethin' I need ta do on my own." Heiji told her. "An' listen. Don't tell Kazuha a word about it, Neechan. Ya gotta swear. Cross yer heart an' everythin'."

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed." Ran said with a grin. Well, if things continued to drag on like this for much longer, maybe she'd go ahead and take action to push them together a little... but that wasn't quite _telling_ Kazuha, per say. Just speeding things up a little, she thought.  
__________________________________________________________________

A late night thirst was what roused Conan from his futon in the middle of the night. Blearily blinking tired eyes, he pushed back his covers, before slowly getting to his feet. Kogoro was snoring away next to him- it was really amazing that he'd been able to get used to that noise. He thought he'd never be able to get a good night's sleep sharing a room with this guy.

Speaking of people he was sharing rooms with though- Conan frowned, his sleepy mood drifting away from him when he noticed that Heiji wasn't in the futon next to him. Crashing at the detective agency meant the three of them sleeping to a room, but it didn't appear that Heiji was here.

Briefly, he thought that he might have just gotten up to get a glass of water or to go the bathroom- but not only was Heiji's futon neatly arranged, but from the look of his bag, his clothes were also missing. What's more, in their place, he could just make out the tank top he knew Heiji had worn to sleep in the first place.

That was strange- had he gone somewhere? In the middle of the night? It was already three in the morning, after all. And without telling anyone, even him? That didn't seem like Heiji. Had something come up?

Any trace of sleepiness now wiped away from Conan thanks to the driving force of his curiosity, the not-child carefully crept out of the room he shared with Kogoro. He didn't hear any signs of anyone moving out and about inside of the house, but he'd go ahead and look around anyways.

Seeing no signs of Heiji within the living area of the Mouri apartment, he headed down a flight of stairs towards where the detective agency was. Jiggling the handle, he determined that it was still locked. His brow creased at this, wondering where exactly it was that Heiji could have run off to in the middle of the night.

Perhaps there really was another reason he'd come to Beika, after all- one that he wasn't sharing with him, Conan thought to himself, his eyes narrowing at the very thought of it. Usually Heiji was a little more forthcoming than that- was there something that he didn't want to involve him in?

Perhaps it really was the scent of the child abduction cases that had drawn him to Beika in the first place. But something about that explanation didn't sit right with him- he looked like he'd been hearing about them for the first time from Ran, after all. Heiji wasn't exactly very skilled in the lying department, as Conan had learned firsthand many times over already. 

Well, it could also be that he simply decided to investigate after hearing about it from Ran- but even if that was the case, wandering around in the middle of the night wasn't really the best way to solve the case at hand. The police had already significantly increased patrols in response to the kidnappings, and they still had found nothing.

Jumping a little as he heard a slight sound coming from upstairs, Conan quickly hurried back up to investigate. That was where he found Heiji letting out a loud yawn as he seemed to curl back up into his futon, dressed in his sleepwear. When the dark skinned detective caught Conan looking at him, he frowned a little.

"What's wrong, Kudo?" He asked, keeping his voice to a whisper so as to not wake the old man. "Ya look like ya've seen a ghost."

"Where were you, Hattori?" Conan whispered, sliding into the futon next to him. "When I woke up, you were gone."

"I was just goin' ta the bathroom, the bathroom." Heiji told him, resting his head on the pillow. "Don't tell me ya woke up an' found me missin' an' got scared?"

"Shut up." Conan lightly hissed, not buying Heiji's explanation of going to the restroom. After all, he'd checked the restroom, and it had been completely empty. There was no way he could have just simply missed him that easily.

But then, where had he been? And how did he get back into Kogoro's room without him noticing anything? There was no way he could have entered it without passing him and yet he had.

As much as Conan wanted to pursue these questions, drowsiness threatened to overcome him now that he was tucked back into his futon. His eyes fluttered as he fought to keep them open, trying to prevent himself from falling asleep while there were still questions unanswered- but it was no use.

He'd have to ask Heiji more thoroughly about his odd behavior tomorrow morning, he thought, finally shutting his eyes. He was certain that once cornered about it, the Osakan detective would spill his guts to him with no problem. It was probably just something about a case, he thought- judging from the way Heiji had acted back during the last case after he'd had a nightmare about him, it wasn't unlikely that he was just trying to leave Conan out of whatever he was investigating. It was more than a little annoying- he could at the very least _tell_ Conan that he was working a case, the knowledge alone wouldn't send him to an early grave. He didn't like being left out of the loop.

As Conan slowly drifted back off to sleep, for a moment, the fortune he'd gotten this morning from the shrine came floating back to him- most noticeably it's words of warning.

_'Your faith in a close friend will be shaken as you unravel the secrets they've been hiding.'_

No way, Conan dimly thought to himself. There was no way that honest to a fault _Hattori Heiji_ , of all people, could be keeping secrets from him.


	2. The Notion That Wasn't As Absurd as Originally Suspected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up to the news that Ayumi has gone missing is bad enough, but when the case hits two puzzling dead ends, it's more than enough to send Conan into a proper fit. And Heiji's increasingly odd behavior honestly is not helping matters.

If there was one thing Conan always somehow managed to forget about Heiji, it was how _insufferably early_ he tended to wake up.

As such, he was already wide awake and bright eyed by the time a still half asleep Conan made his way to the living room. Quite frankly, Conan didn't know how he did it- even more so if he had actually, in fact, snuck out last night in the middle of the night. But there Heiji was, sitting at the table they ate their meals at, for all the world acting as if he belonged there, chatting away with Ran about something of no real consequence- a story from Kazuha's last tournament, he thought, upon listening a bit closer.

"Oh, Ku-Conan-kun!" Heiji greeted him as the not-child took a seat next to him. "Ya finally woke up! I guess that uncle is still fast asleep though!"

"Is that true, Conan-kun?" Ran frowned, heaving a sigh. "Honestly, dad. I'll go and wake him up. Help yourself to some breakfast, Conan-kun." Getting to her feet, Ran headed out of the living room- and from the expression on her face, it seemed she intended to drag her father out of bed by any means necessary.

"That uncle's done for." Heiji observed with a mischievous grin, before taking a bite out of his rice. "Glad ta see yer up, though, Sleepin' Beauty!"

"Shut up." Conan glowered at him, deciding to get a bit of breakfast down him before he broke the question he wanted to ask. Swallowing a bite of his food, he looked up towards Heiji, arching an eyebrow. "You're awfully energetic for someone who snuck out of the house in the middle of the night, Hattori."

Watching as the dark skinned detective nearly choked on some of his rice, Heiji gave him a strange look, before trying to laugh off Conan's statement. "What are ya talkin' about, Kudo? I didn't go anywhere last night except fer the bathroom, I told ya that much."

"That reaction says otherwise." Conan observed. "I looked all around the place when I realized you weren't in your futon, and your clothes were missing. Don't try to lie to me, Hattori. You're bad at it anyways."

Judging from the face Heiji made, Conan was right on the mark. "I-I'm not really lyin' ta ya." Heiji said, averting his eyes from the astute gaze of his friend. "I really did go ta the bathroom."

"And then you obviously left the apartment and went somewhere." Conan finished for him. "So? Are you going to tell me about it? You're looking into the missing children case after all, aren't you?"

A brief look of almost relief crossed Heiji's face, something which Conan couldn't help but find curious. "Y-yeah. Ya caught me. That's what I was doin'. After what Neechan said earlier, I didn't want ta get ya involved, that's all. Thought I do some lookin' around after ya went ta bed."

There was obviously more to it than that, Conan thought to himself. Well, he didn't doubt that at the very least, Heiji was telling the truth about looking into the matter. Heaving a sigh, Conan gave him a skeptical look. "Even if you're worried about me, Hattori, you can at least tell me these things. I'm not an idiot, I'm not about to go and get myself kidnapped."

The expression on his friend's face, for a moment, became briefly unreadable- though Conan could at least detect a hint of worry in it. "Y-yeah, I know that much, Kudo. Sorry. I wasn't tryin' ta keep ya out of the loop because I don't trust ya, or anythin' like that. It's just..." He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck. "In my dream, ya just disappeared an' didn't come back. I thought the kidnappings might be related, so I didn't want ta tell ya that I'd decided to look into em after hearin' about them from Neechan. That's all."

"Idiot." In spite of Conan's short tone, he was actually trying to reassure Heiji. He didn't fully understand why his friend seemed to be putting so much faith into this so called premonition of his- but it was probably just based out of concern for his good friend. He supposed it was kind of touching, in a way, that this boy he had crossed paths with first as a rival several months ago now cared so much about him. "I'm not going to disappear that easily. You don't have anything to worry about it."

"Even if ya say that..." Heiji trailed off again. He was unable to finish whatever it was that he wanted to say, however, as Ran entered the room again, Kogoro in tow this time.

"Sorry for the wait!" Ran apologized, returning to her seat as Kogoro grumbled about being rudely awakened by his only daughter. "Now, Hattori-kun, what was it you were telling me about Kazuha-chan's tournament again?"

"Oh, right!" Heiji brightened almost automatically at the change of topic. If Conan didn't miss his guess, he was actually relieved to see the father and daughter enter the room, knowing that the subject of what he was doing last night would be dropped the moment hey did so. "So, like I was sayin', her opponent-"

The annoyance on his face was plain as day as he was cut off by the sound of the phone ringing. Apologizing again, Ran got to her feet and hurried over to answer it, wondering who could be calling this early in the morning.

"Yes, Mouri residence. Ah, Yoshida-san!" The smile on the girl's face was quickly tempered when she heard a note on the woman's voice that definitely didn't sound like it was a good thing. "Is something wrong, Yoshida-san? Yes, Conan-kun's here. Yes. Yes."

The bolt of shock that ran through her was obvious for anyone to see. "Are you certain, Yoshida-san?" Ran asked, her tone suddenly growing more frantic, a horrified expression overtaking her features. "Yeah, I'll tell father right away. We'll be there soon, okay?"

Hanging up the phone, Ran steadied herself for a moment by drawing in a long breath. Finally, she turned back towards the group at the table, her expression serious. "That was Ayumi-chan's mother. She said they can't find Ayumi-chan anywhere this morning. She's missing."

After receiving news like that, it was no small wonder that every occupant of the Mouri household that morning had set a land speed record for gulping down their breakfasts and changing their clothes. Conan had been the fastest of them all, practically inhaling his breakfast, waiting at the bottom of the stairs before anyone else was even close to being ready.

He knew Ayumi was prone to getting herself in dangerous situations, but he'd hoped that none of the Detective Boys would get involved in the current kidnapping situation. But now that one was, the entire investigation had become incredibly personal for him. Whoever was behind this wouldn't escape from him, and there would be hell to pay if even one hair on Ayumi's head was harmed.

Ran didn't even protest when Conan said that he was going to come with them, assuming that he was deeply worried about his friend. She didn't have it in her to say no. She'd called the other houses of the rest of the Detective Boys while she got changed, and had learned that save for Ayumi, all the rest were safe and sound. It provided them with some small relief.

Bumbling though he might be, Kogoro quickly caught onto the frantic mood of the others in the agency. While he might not always like the Detective Boys hanging around, he still had something of a soft spot for them, so the thought of one of them going missing, especially under such dire circumstances, was nothing short of deeply troubling. He had been the one Ayumi's mother had asked for in the first place after all, knowing of his reputation as the Sleeping Kogoro, just as unaware as he was that it was a reputation he got on the back of someone else's hard work.

Conan hadn't made much out of Heiji's reaction at the time, being too caught up in his own worry to really pay all that much attention to it. Later he would reflect on the fact that it was somewhat odd- there was an anger broiling underneath the surface of the Osakan detective's otherwise serious demeanor. That in itself wasn't unusual- Heiji was always quick to anger after all, but the fact that he wasn't openly expressing it as he usually did was what would later strike Conan as most peculiar.

The glint of knowledge in his eyes would later come to bother him as well. There was something, Conan would think to himself, something that Heiji knew about this case that he wasn't telling anyone. Not him- not even the police. As if it were something that he couldn't easily say.

In spite of having the shortest legs out of the group, it was Conan who arrived at Ayumi's apartment first, running in place as he waited for everyone else to catch up. Heiji and Ran were hot on his heels, leaving Kogoro to trail behind, gasping for breath once they finally arrived. He hadn't expected Conan to break out in a run halfway there, as if he couldn't waste another precious second on simply walking, and had made off, quick as a jackrabbit.

The relief on the face of Ayumi's mother as Kogoro walked through the door was as clear as day, and she instantly latched onto him, quickly beginning to discuss the situation with him. There were still police officers at the apartment, including a face that Conan knew by heart.

"Detective Takagi!" Conan called out, hurrying over towards the man. "What are you doing here? This isn't Division One's department, is it?"

"Conan-kun." Takagi spoke, a grim expression on his face as he shook his head. He wasn't even the least bit surprised to see the child here- though the fact that Hattori Heiji had apparently come along with the group was somewhat more surprising. This was, after all, one of his friends they were talking about here. "It's not usually, but given the circumstances, this case has been given top priority at headquarters. All divisions are on deck for this case."

It was no small wonder. With last night's count of vanished children shaping up to be a solid eight, twenty-one children in total had completely vanished from the Beika area, without leaving so much as a trace behind. Takagi too, had been hoping that none of the Detective Boys would turn up in their number. He'd actually personally volunteered to come out to the Yoshida apartment when he'd gotten wind of Ayumi going missing.

"But what is Hattori-kun doing here?" Takagi asked, glancing up at the Osakan detective. The brim of his hat had been turned around to face forward, and an unusually grave expression was on his face. Considering that the police were still at a total loss in regards to the case, having the high school detective around was actually somewhat comforting.

"I was visitin' Ku- no, Conan-kun here." Heiji told him.

"I see." Takagi said, nodding his head. "I'm glad you're here though, Conan-kun, because it saves me some time. Ayumi's mother told me that she hung out with you in the morning yesterday. Was there anything you noticed then about her? Or anyone strange hanging around?"

Thinking back on it, Conan's eyes narrowed, trying to recall if there had been anything that had particularly stood out that morning. "No." He said finally, a note of frustration in his voice. "I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. We split up after lunch though, so it's possible the others might know something. Can I look in her room?"

"Ah, sure." Takagi said, taking a step back and letting both the bespectacled child and the Osakan detective into Ayumi's room. The first thing that struck Conan right away was how orderly everything looked- nothing looked out of place at all. There weren't even the slightest signs of a struggle, or of someone breaking into the room. Ayumi's apartment was rather high up to begin with, so it would have been impossible for someone to scale the side of the building to snatch her from her window anyways- they would have needed to come in through the front door for that.

The one thing that did stick out to Conan was the fact that her pajamas were neatly folded on top of her bed. A quick glance in her wardrobe told him that there was a change of clothes missing from it- her shoes had been missing from the entryway as well.

It was almost as if she had simply left the house by herself.

For a brief moment, his gaze flickered towards Heiji, casting him a strange look. His friend was currently busy going over the room himself, no doubt drawing the same conclusions that Conan had.

"Did her parents hear anything?" Conan asked, glancing back towards Takagi.

"No." Takagi said, shaking his head. "They only noticed Ayumi-chan was missing when they went to wake her up for breakfast, and found her nowhere in the apartment."

"It's the same with the other missin' kids, ain't it?" Heiji finally spoke up, casting a glance back towards the police detective, who nodded his head.

"Yes, that's right." Takagi told him frankly. "Pretty much all of them simply vanished without a trace. We couldn't find any signs of anyone breaking into their homes either. The only things missing from their rooms aside from the children themselves were a change of clothes and their shoes."

"Almost as if they left because they wanted to." Heiji mumbled underneath his breath, his eyes narrowing. He didn't notice the way that Conan looked towards him, the not-child's eyes narrowing.

It was true that it looked that way, but there was something about Heiji's tone that bothered him. Was there something he knew that he wasn't sharing with them? But what? And why?

Well, it was possible he was just working on a theory at the moment, and didn't want to give voice to it until he had proof. Even Conan had to admit the situation was unusual.

"Did you talk to Ayumi-chan's mother, Detective Takagi?" Conan asked. "Like, did she say if there was anything strange that she noticed yesterday?"

"Of course I spoke to her, but she didn't really seem to think that anything unusual occurred yesterday." Takagi frowned, recalling his earlier conversation with the understandably distraught woman. "According to what her daughter told her after coming home yesterday late in the afternoon, after heading to the shrine to get a fortune with you and the rest of the Detective Boys, she had lunch with you and Hattori-kun over here," he said, sparing Heiji a glance, "And then went halfway home with the rest of the Detective Boys. After splitting up, she took a shortcut through the park, and stopped to watch a puppet show there, before coming home."

"A puppet show?" Heiji asked, the subject apparently catching his attention. "What kind of a puppet show?"

"Let's see..." Takagi frowned, trying to recall if her mother had specified. It wasn't a detail he had paid very much attention to. "If I recall, it was some kind of European fairytale. Something involving a piper...?"

Heiji's eyes seemed to narrow at that, as if this, for him, had linked some piece of the puzzle together. Conan barely made out the words that he muttered underneath his breath- the Pied Piper of Hamelin. If he recalled correctly, that fairytale was about...

Missing children.

Even Conan had to admit that detail struck him as odd. Perhaps the puppetmaster of the show was related to this? If he selected children from his audience somehow, that would make sense. Perhaps he had some of his associates follow them home, and make a note of where exactly they lived. Still, why? And for what purpose?

And how did they make them just so utterly and absolutely disappear?

"Do you know which park the puppet show was in?" Conan asked.

"Beika Park, if I recall correctly." Takagi told them. "Do you perhaps think the person putting on the show is related?"

"It isn't impossible." Heiji said. "Have any other parents mentioned their kids watchin' a puppet show before being kidnapped?" He asked.

Mulling over the question, Takagi tried to recall if there had been anything like that mentioned in the case file that he had read. Finally, he nodded his head. "Now that you mention it, at least a few parents mentioned it. It's possible that if I asked about it specifically, the others might be able to confirm at as well."

"Do you think you could do that, Detective Takagi?" Conan asked, almost bouncing up and down on his heels, as if he were itching to get a move on and head somewhere else. There was one other thing he had noticed was missing from Ayumi's room- her Detective Boys badge. If that was the case, it was possible that he might be able to use it to track down her location.

"Yes, I'll get right on that, Conan-kun. I'll give either you or Hattori-kun a call if I can get any new information." Takagi told them, before he headed out to make a call in order to do just that.

"What's the bouncin' fer?" Heiji asked, glancing down at Conan. "Did ya notice somethin', Kudo?"

"Yeah." Nodding his head, Conan reached up to the corner of his glasses, switching it to detection mode. Right away, four bleeps appeared on the radar screen of his glasses- three of them he knew belonged to Mitsuhiko, Ai, and himself- but the fourth wasn't Genta's. From here, his house was too far away for his Detective Boys badge to be picked up. That mean that the fourth could only belong to Ayumi. "Ayumi took her badge with her."

"Oh?" Heiji raised a brow, a fierce grin forming on his face. "Then that means ya can track her, right?"

"Yeah." Conan said, nodding his head. "She's still well within my range. Shall we go check it out, Hattori?"

"Way ahead of ya, Kudo." Heiji said, already making his way out of the door. Quickly stopping to make an excuse to Ran who was still lingering by the entrance with her father and Ayumi's mother, the two high school detectives ducked out of the apartment, following the trace left by Ayumi's badge. Pacing himself behind Conan, watching the not-child dart ahead of him, following after the bleep on his screen that surely represented Ayumi's badge, he carefully and quickly worked his way down the sidewalk, making sharp turns when it was called for. He could hear Heiji's footsteps right behind him, so there was no need to double check if he was actually keeping up with him.

As they closed in on the signal, Conan's pace slowed down. After all, there was no way of telling what they would be running into. As they came up to another corner, the signal indicated that she was just around it. Pausing at the edge of the wall, he glanced up towards Heiji, silently motioning that this was it. And then, carefully, cautiously, he peered around the other side of the wall.

Only to find a dead end.

The turn lead into a narrow alleyway, which lead into a solid stone wall. Frowning, Conan carefully made his way into the alley. Sure enough, Ayumi's signal ended here. Wondering if perhaps her Detective Boys badge had been dropped somewhere in the vicinity, he quickly began looking for it, but found nothing.

"That's strange." Conan frowned, his eyes narrowing. "According to the signal, she should be here. You don't see her badge lying around or anything, do you, Hattori?" He asked, glancing back towards his friend- and paused when he did, his brow furrowing for an entirely new reason.

His eyes fixed on the wall before them with a rather intense look in his eyes, Heiji almost didn't seem to hear Conan call out to him. He did, however, notice the boy's odd look out of the corner of his eyes, and broke out of his train of thoughts with a start. "Ah, sorry, Kudo. I was thinkin'. What did ya ask me?"

"I asked if you see Ayumi-chan's badge anywhere around here. The only thing I can think of is that it was dropped here, but I can't find it." Conan frowned, getting down on all fours to study the area closer. At the very least, she had probably come in this direction, but... where was that badge?

"No, I don't see it." Heiji shook his head. "Are ya sure the signal leads ta here?" He asked, before grabbing the edge of the wall, hefting himself up to the top of it. Balancing himself quite neatly on top of the wall, he peered over it, looking for any trace of either Ayumi or her badge. "No, there's nothin' here, Kudo. It's an empty lot on this side."

Frustrated by this turn of events, Conan swore underneath his breath, barely noticing it when Heiji jumped back down. "I was so sure that I'd find her here, Hattori."

"Don't get so worked up, Kudo. It's not yer fault." Heiji tried to reassure him. "Don't worry. We'll find her yet- the rest of the kids too. It's what we do, ain't it?"

Taking in a deep breath to calm his nerves, Conan nodded his head, getting to his feet and brushing dirt off of himself. A small part of him couldn't help but reflect on the irony of Heiji of all people, telling him to calm down. But he had a point. "You're right." Getting too worked up wouldn't help Ayumi in the least. Reaching up to switch off his tracking glasses, he scratched his head, trying to reorganize his thoughts and decide where to go from here.

"The puppet show." Conan said. "If we can find the puppet show, we might be able to get another lead."

"Then, should we start with Beika Park?" Heiji asked. "I don't know the parks around here that well, so yer gonna have ta take the lead on this one, Kudo."

"That's not a problem." Conan said, before looking up towards Heiji. "Not afraid of involving me anymore, are you?"

"As long as I can keep ya where I can see, I figure yer not really in any danger." Heiji replied with a shrug. "Just don't run off anywhere without me, Kudo."

"What are you, my mom?" Conan half-grumbled, before heaving a sigh. "Alright, I got it, Hattori. It'll be better for the two of us to stick together on this one anyways. There's too many things about this case that don't fit."

For a moment, the shadow of his cap concealed his eyes from view, rendering his expression largely unreadable. "Yeah." His mood quickly shifted again, as he flashed Conan a broad grin. "Let's go ta that park then. The sooner we get started lookin', the better."

"Right." Nodding his head, Conan left what had proven to be both a literal and metaphorical dead end behind him, his attention now directed towards Beika Park and the mysterious puppet show that Ayumi and the other kidnapped children had apparently watched the day before they went missing.

He didn't notice the way that Heiji's gaze lingered on the dead end's wall, before he turned on his heel to join his friend.  
_____________________________________________________________

Although they didn't find the mysterious puppetmaster and his puppet show at Beika Park, it hadn't entirely been a fruitless search. They had been able to find a number of park regulars who had seen the man both setting up, hosting, and taking down his show the previous afternoon, a few of whom confirmed that they had seen a girl who looked like Ayumi in the audience at the time. Takagi had sent Heiji photos of the other missing children on his cellphone, and among their number, almost all of them had been confirmed as watching the puppet show on that afternoon.

Those who had seen him were more than willing to describe him. While he had worn a mask for theatrical effect during the show, there were those who had seen him without it on when he was setting up and taking it down for the afternoon. A rather plain-faced man, they had said, with short brown hair and rather nondescript features. He wore black rimmed glasses, and looked to be in his early twenties. One of the witnesses had taken note of the substantial bags underneath his eyes, commenting that it looked like he got nowhere near enough sleep.

This information they turned over to Takagi, who in turn confirmed with them that it appeared as if most of the other missing children had in fact, watched this puppet show on the day before they disappeared. He told them that they were already combing the local parks for a man matching the description that they had been given. It appeared as if he flitted from park to park, drifting like the wind.

The pair had stopped briefly for lunch- takoyaki, something they could eat on the go. As much as Heiji had spent the entire time complaining that it wasn't as good as the 'real stuff back home', he didn't once cease shoveling it into his face, eating two boxes of it to Conan's one. It was as they were throwing them away that Heiji got a phone call from Takagi, informing him that they had spotted the puppetmaster in a park not far from where the pair was.

Exchanging a glance with each other, the two detectives quickly headed to the park. Takagi had also made his way towards the park, and noted that there was a plain clothes officer already inside, keeping tabs on the puppet show. An audience of ten children had gathered for it, seemingly enraptured by the man's story in a way that according to the plain clothes officer, was kind of creepy.

"We're approaching the location now." Takagi radioed his counterpart, who confirmed that he was ready to assist if the suspect put up any resistance. As they approached the scene, Conan quickly understood what the man had meant by 'kind of creepy'- he'd never seen children sitting this still and paying this close attention to anything before, and he'd been spending an ample amount of time around them since being shrunk down to a seven year old.

Clearing his throat, Takagi pulled out his police badge, catching the attention of the masked puppetmaster. "Excuse me for a second. I'm Takagi of the Metropolitan Police. If it's not too much trouble, we have a few questions we need to ask you." The man halted in his manipulation of his puppet's strings, glancing up at the officer. Behind the mask, it seemed that he was annoyed to be disturbed.

"I am in the middle of a show, officer." The man spoke, and Conan couldn't help but take note of the strange monotone of his voice. There was something about it that was strangely lulling. "Can it wait?"

"It can't wait." Heiji was the one who spoke up, stepping up behind Takagi. "We have a lot of questions fer ya, ya know."

That got a substantial response from the man, and almost right away at that- his fingers twitched, causing his puppets to clatter to the ground. As they did, Conan noticed that the gathered children, who had been mysteriously quiet up until this point, suddenly began to make noise again, glancing around in what appeared to be confusion. Almost as if a spell had been broken.

 _"You!"_ The man almost hissed, in spite of which, his monotone never faltered. After a moment's hesitation, he glanced between his puppets, the children, before his eyes finally came to lay to rest on what Conan first thought had been Takagi- a moment later, he realized that the aim of the man's focus was actually on Heiji. He didn't really have time to process this however, as the man apparently decided to abandon his things, taking off at full sprint away from them, moving faster than Conan ever expected a man who had been described as lacking sleep could go.

"The suspect is on the run!" Takagi radioed in, before darting after the puppetmaster himself. Heiji and Conan were hot on his heels, with Heiji quickly catching up to Takagi's head start, and eventually outrunning him, narrowing the distance between himself and the fleeing suspect. Realizing this, the man threw off his mask, attempting to chuck it at the Osakan detective, who merely jumped over the improvised projectile, not letting it bother him as he closed the gap between the two.

Reaching out to grab the suspect on the shoulder, Heiji quickly pinned him in place, holding him to the ground, allowing Conan and Takagi to catch up to him. Pausing to catch their breath, the pair watched as the man cursed and withered underneath Heiji's grip, muttering something underneath his breath- before suddenly, he all but slumped, going completely limp.

A quick check revealed that he had merely passed out, but was otherwise fine. Heiji carefully got off of him, as Takagi handcuffed the slumbering figure just to be on the safe side, before calling in for backup and a car to bring him first to a hospital, with plans to transfer him later to the station if he turned out to be alright.

"I don't get it. Why did he suddenly pass out?" Conan couldn't help but ask, frowning as he watched a pair of officers cart the slumbering figure away.

"Maybe he did too much too suddenly on too little sleep?" Heiji shrugged his shoulders. As much as acted like he was at a loss, there was something to his tone that made Conan suspect otherwise.

After all, he'd managed to just barely make out one of the hushed curses the man had been making before he passed out.

_"No one said anything about **you** being here!"'_

Looking up at the person he'd come to view as his friend and trusted ally over the past half year, suddenly Conan somehow didn't find the notion that Heiji could be keeping something from him so absurd anymore.

It twisted his gut to think so. For once he really hoped he was mistaken about something.  
______________________________________________________

Frustration on frustration continued to mount.

The man that the police had taken custody of in the park, the puppetmaster responsible for the puppet shows, had woken up. However it quickly became apparent that the man in question had no memory of the week, and furthermore, had no idea how he'd gotten to Beika in the first place, or what he might have been doing running a puppet show in the park in the first place. He was an accountant from Shizuoka Prefecture, he claimed, and his name was Hayashi Riku.

When the police had checked into his story, they had realized that Hayashi Riku had in fact, gone missing a week before. While there was still a chance that the man might by lying to cover his tracks, professional opinion swayed towards the fact that the man was telling the truth. In addition to lack of sleep, it looked like he hadn't been eating properly either- and was showing signs of a week's worth of malnutrition.

It was puzzle upon puzzle with this case, it seemed.

When they had finally returned back to the Mouri Detective Agency, Ran had remembered that she was furious with Heiji for taking Conan around with him to investigate such a dangerous case. He'd sheepishly apologized, making about every excuse he could think of in the book to weasel his way out of her bad side. Eventually she'd heaved a frustrated sigh, deciding it wasn't worth it. Conan probably would have followed him anyways, she said.

Aside from the puppetmaster, no other clues in the case turned up, though the police and Kogoro alike had gone over the crime scenes with a fine tooth comb. The fact that he had two leads, only for both of them to slip through his fingertips, was more than frustrating enough on it's own for Conan.

When combined with the unusual behavior Heiji had been displaying since even before the investigation had started, it was downright _maddening_.

"I'm telling you, Haibara." Conan hissed into his phone, giving her a call after finding a private moment alone. "Hattori's acting strange."

"Hattori-kun has always been strange." Came Ai's nonchalant reply. In spite of the fact that she was trying to put her best face up, he knew that she was incredibly worried about Ayumi at the moment. Out of all the Detective Boys, Ayumi was the one she valued the most as her friend, after all- there was no way that she wasn't worried out of her mind.

"Stranger than usual." Conan grumbled. "That guy didn't bolt until he realized Hattori was there. Doesn't that seem odd?"

"What are you trying to say, Kudo-kun?" Ai asked, her frown evident in her voice. "You don't think Hattori-kun's involved in this somehow?"

"No, I don't think that's it." Conan frowned. "At the very least, I know Hattori would never be involved in anything like this. He's not that type of person. I'm just saying there's something about this case that he _knows_ , and he's not telling me."

"Why don't you just ask him then?" Ai suggested. "It's Hattori-kun, after all. He's terrible at lying."

"Even if I asked him, I don't think he'd tell me." Conan grumbled. "The last thing I want to do is get into a fight with him over this. You know how he can be."

"I know." Ai said simply, before heaving a sigh. "For the moment, Kudo-kun, why don't you just concentrate on the investigation, and figure out what's going on with Hattori-kun once it's solved? Ayumi-chan's- no, the children's disappearance is more pressing."

"I know, I know." Conan said, finally heading a sigh. "Don't worry, Haibara. One way or another, I'll bring Ayumi-chan home. I'm just as worried."

"I know." Came Ai's response, a hint of the true worry that she was feeling slipping out in her voice. "Do your best, Kudo-kun."

"I will." Conan said, hanging up his phone with another long sigh. He almost hated the prospect of going to sleep while all of this was going on. Even though Hayashi Riku had been taken into custody, and police guard had been set outside of the homes of each of the children who had been in his audience during the afternoon, there was no real assurance that no children would go missing tonight.

Why sleep, when he could stay awake and puzzle out the many mysteries of this case? But his body wasn't willing to listen to this kind of logic, and was already calling at him to drift off into dreamless slumber, as evidenced by his rather loud yawn.

"Ya off ta bed, Kudo?" Heiji's voice nearly made Conan flinch, and he couldn't help but wonder if he'd overheard any of his phone call to Ai. Judging by the expression on his face, though, he guessed not.

"Y-yeah. It seems that way." Conan said, rubbing at one eye. "What about you, Hattori? The old man and Ran have already gone to bed."

"Yeah, I'll head ta bed in a little while. There's still some stuff I need ta do." Heiji told him, a small grin on his face. "Do ya need me ta tuck ya in?"

"Shut up." Conan grumbled. "Don't stay up too late, Hattori. Going to bed late and waking up early isn't good for you."

"I don't need ya ta tell me that." Heiji said with a slight frown. Watching as Conan headed back into the bedroom he shared with Kogoro, his eyes narrowed slightly.

In spite of what he had said, tonight was going to be a long night.  
_________________________________________________________________

It was the faint sound of a flute that roused him from his sleep.

Blinking slowly, some small part of his mind wondered where the sound was coming from. For a reason he couldn't quite understand, the sound of the flute almost felt like it was calling out to him, asking him to come find it's source. As if he were still half-asleep, Conan slowly rose to his feet, stumbling a little as he stood up.

The melody echoed through his ears, filling up his head, growing less and less distant in it's sound as the seconds ticked by. It was an enchanting sound, he thought. Beautiful. He'd never heard anything like it before- it was as if it whisked all of his worries right away from him. The stress of dealing with the Black Organization, the concerns over Ran learning his secret, the worry that he'd never be able to find a way to return to being Kudo Shinichi all fading from his mind as the flute's melody worked it's way through it, soothing and intoxicating all at once.

He should go to it, he thought. This was a feeling he didn't want to let go.

Changing out of his pajamas and into his clothes, Conan stumbled his way out of the room, following the flute's melody down the hall and down the stairs. He barely even noticed the figure leaning against the detective agency's door, and still barely registered him even after he reached out a hand, stopping him in his tracks. Frustrated at this, he tried to progress forward, but found he couldn't break free of the hold the person had on him.

"This is why I didn't want ta involve ya in this, Kudo." Heiji grumbled, all but hefting the not-child over his shoulder. With a careful twist, he opened up the door to the detective agency, placing Conan down on the couch. "Honestly. I can't believe ya'd be effected by that sound yerself. This is exactly why I can't involve ya in this sort of thing."

Frowning at the way Conan still struggled against his grip, trying to continue on his quest to follow the sound of the flute that only he could hear, Heiji heaved a sigh, lightly flicking his forehead.

"Go back ta sleep, Kudo. Ya don't need ta go anywhere." Heiji said, letting him go briefly to toss a blanket over him. There was a faint crackle in the air as it covered the not-child, and all at once, he stopped struggling, instead curling up into the blanket, slowly drifting back off into sleep, the sound of the flute apparently forgotten.

"Honestly." Heiji grumbled, rising to his feet. "This one's going ta be a pain ta clean up after."

Pausing to spare a quick glance back towards the slumbering form of the person he'd come to view as his best friend over the course of the past half year, Heiji gave him a soft smile. "Sweet dreams, Kudo."

Turning away, he closed the door the detective agency behind him, before he headed down the stairs, and out into the night air.

"Now then," Heiji said, a fierce grin appearing on his face. "It's time ta get ta work."


	3. There are More Things in this World than You Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joyous news that the missing children have been found doesn't bring the mystery of their disappearance any closer to being solved- and a fight with Heiji leaves Conan determined to take up his challenge to discover whatever it is that he might be hiding from him.

Blearily blinking awake at the sound of Kogoro's alarm clock going off, Conan slowly pushed himself up out of his futon. Dimly hearing the sound of Kogoro's grumbling in the background as he fumbled with his alarm clock, trying to switch it off, Conan let out a loud yawn, scratching his head as he slowly rejoined the world of the waking.

Which he ended up doing so in a jolt, as strange memories flooded into his head of last night. Although he couldn't quite recall _why_ , for some reason, he remembered that he'd tried to leave the house late last night, but had been prevented from doing so. He'd even gone as far as changing his clothes, if he remembered correctly. However, when he looked down, he realized he was wearing the same set of pajamas as when he went to sleep, and furthermore, he was back in the room he shared with Kogoro, not sleeping on the couch of the detective agency with a blanket tossed over him, as he recalled.

And still sleeping next to him, completely dead to the world, was Hattori Heiji, who had been the one who had prevented him from leaving in the first place. Watching the rise and fall of his slumbering friend's chest, who was apparently so fast asleep he hadn't even heard the alarm clock go off, Conan frowned, scratching the back of his head.

That was probably a dream, now that he thought about it. There had been a certain dreamlike quality to the so-called 'memory'. More than likely one caused by stress.

"What, is that detective brat still sleeping?" Kogoro's voice broke his thoughts. "Usually he's the first one to wake up."

"He seems pretty tired." Conan said, glancing up at the man. "I'll wake him up, so why don't you go ahead and freshen up, Uncle?"

"Yeah, I'll do that." Excusing himself to head into the bathroom, Conan waited until he heard the firm click of the bathroom's lock before he turned over to Heiji, giving his friend a firm shake.

"Oi, Hattori. Wake up." Conan said, frowning a little as the Osakan detective merely swatted his hands away, turning over on his side and curling further into his blankets. He couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Heiji had come down with something- Kogoro had been right, Heiji was usually up first thing in the morning, oftentimes even before the sun rose. It was unusual to see him so fast asleep when it was already eight in the morning. _"Hattori_."

"Mm, ten more minutes, Kazuha." Heiji mumbled in his sleep, drooling slightly as he turned over in his futon again.

Heaving an irritated sigh, Conan reached over for his cellphone, quickly snapping a picture of his friend's sleeping face- a picture which he then forwarded to Kazuha. It was, of course, an action purely taken out of spite, and he quickly put his cellphone back, before he resumed trying to get the stubborn Osakan to wake up already.

"If you don't wake up in the next ten seconds, Hattori, I'm calling Haibara and telling her to send that recording to Kazuha." Conan told him.

"M'awake!" Jolting straight up, Heiji blinked wildly, apparently half not remembering where he was for a few moments. With his sleepiness fading and his awareness coming back to him, he glanced over towards Conan, eyes narrowing as he looked down at him. "Not funny, Kudo." Reaching over, he flicked his friend's forehead, grumbling a little before letting out a loud yawn.

As he had suspected, it had been a long night. What time was it even? Eight? He'd probably only been asleep for around three hours then- no wonder he was exhausted. Well, it wasn't like he could let Kudo know he'd been awake for most of last night, so it was best to put on his best face and crawl out of bed already. He didn't exactly want to impose on the Mouris anymore than he already was, after all.

Well, after today he could head back home to Osaka, at least. He could sleep on the train all he wanted on the way back. For a moment, he pondered taking a short cut, but he'd used up quite a bit of energy last night, so it was probably better if he took opted for the more mundane method of getting home, unless he could find somewhere to get a quick recharge from.

There had been no more nightmares about Kudo vanishing into the abyss, either, which meant that the danger had passed. It appeared that his friend didn't remember anything from last night either, judging from his behavior- and if he did, he probably thought it was just a strange dream. Well, that worked out for the best.

There were more things on this earth than his friend knew, and frankly, Heiji wanted to keep it that way. Maybe not forever, but for as long as possible. The great detective of the east had his own problems to worry about without adding those of his rival's to the mix.

"Personally, I think it's hilarious." Conan said, getting to his feet. "It's rare to see you sleeping in though, Hattori. You feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I just had a fit of insomnia last night, I think." Heiji told him, letting out another loud yawn. "It happens sometimes. I'll be better once I get a bit of caffeine in me. What about you? Ready ta face another day of investigatin'?"

Well, there was nothing left to investigate anymore, but Conan didn't know that, and the last thing he wanted to do was rouse his suspicions anymore than he already, apparently, had. As long as that girl kept her promise and kept her silence, there wouldn't be any problems on that end. He had been running on low by the time he'd gotten around to her, and honestly, he was somewhat grateful that she'd been more than willing to strike a deal with him. He was pretty sure the promise he'd made with her was tempting enough that she would stick to it pretty soundly.

To think his dream would lead him to such a pain in the ass case when his rival was around- but it wasn't exactly like he could ignore it. It was his duty after all, as huge a pain in the butt as it could be sometimes, it wasn't exactly something he could back down and run away from.

"You can sleep a little longer if that's the case." Conan said with a frown, suddenly feeling bad about waking Heiji up now. He knew exactly what he meant- he suffered through such fits from time to time as well, and it was never fun. "I don't think anyone would complain if you slept for another hour. I can get Ran to save some breakfast for you."

"Nah, I'm up now, so I might as well stay up." Heiji said, getting to his feet. "Thanks fer worryin' 'bout me though, Kudo. I appreciate it."

"I'm just returning the favor." Conan said simply. The conversation was swiftly dropped when Kogoro returned to the room, telling them that they could use the bathroom now. Letting Heiji go inside first, Conan began putting his futon away for the day, carefully folding it back up. He was halfway finished with this when the door to Kogoro's room flung open, a wide-eyed and excited looking Ran all but bursting through it.

"There's great news, you two!" Ran declared, her eyes twinkling with happiness. "The missing children have all been found! Ayumi-chan too!"  
__________________________________________________________

Just as before, the more details Conan heard about the return of the missing children, the more questions he had. When he'd heard from Ran that the missing children had been found, he'd assumed that the police had located the kidnapper's hideout sometime during the night, and had performed a raid to rescue the missing children. That was, of course, the logical assumption.

Only that wasn't the case.

Rather than a dramatic rescue performed by the police, it was almost as if the children themselves had simply reappeared just as mysteriously as they had disappeared in the first place. Conan later learned that it was Ayumi herself who had gathered all the children together, and had lead them to the nearest police box, where the officer on duty had quickly scrambled to call headquarters when he realized that these were the missing children.

Logically, one would assume that Ayumi and the other children had seen a chance to escape from where they were being held. But once again, this wasn't the case. Rather, according to all of the children that had been asked, Ayumi included, they had simply found themselves in the middle of Beika Park, with no knowledge and no understanding of how they had gotten there in the first place.

And for that matter, none of them had any memories of the past few days either. The police had asked, of course, hoping to glean some information on the culprits or the location where they had been kept, but it appeared that none of the children could recall anything from after they had gone to bed on the night they had disappeared.

It was more than a little frustrating.

The good news, however, was that by and large, all of the children seemed to be safe and sound. Even the children who had been missing for the longest didn't seem to have any traces of being malnourished or dehydrated, and had quickly been given a green light by the doctors that examined them. The only thing that troubled them was the missing memories of the children, but they'd been quick to establish it was only the memories of the previous few nights that they were lacking, and everything else in regards to their memory seemed to be fine.

All of this information essentially left Conan at a loss, which was not a feeling he cared for. He was, of course, extremely happy that all of the children had returned safely with no apparent harm, but he was insanely frustrated that it had happened without so much as a hint of a new clue coming his way. That in itself was downright bizarre. He'd even scoured Beika Park, looking for clues, but he'd found absolutely nothing.

Heiji seemed to be handling it better than he was, and that struck him as more than a little odd as well. They were usually more alike in this regard- as far as he knew, Heiji had never been the type to enjoy seeing a mystery go unsolved, and yet he was almost acting as if the investigation, for all intents and purposes, was already over. While the sense of urgency behind the investigation was lessened considerably now that the children had been found, the case was _far_ from over.

At this exact second, however, he decided to put any such thoughts on hold. The Detective Boys had gathered up outside of the station, and were eagerly waiting for Ayumi to leave with her mother. Sparing a glance over at Ai, he wondered how happy Ayumi would be to know exactly how worried she had been, and exactly how relieved she had been when she'd heard Ayumi had been found.

Of course, Conan would have plenty of questions for Ayumi- at her own pace, of course. The last thing he wanted to do after all of this was to assail her with a bunch of questions she might not be able to answer. That would make him the worst.

"Ah, there she is!" Mitsuhiko called out, spotting her first, eagerly waving his hand. "Ayumi-chan!"

"Mitsuhiko-kun!" Ayumi called back, briefly glancing up at her mom before scurrying over to join her friends. "And everyone! You all came to see me?"

"Of course!" Genta said, a big smile on his face. "We were all worried about you, Ayumi! I'm glad to see you're okay!"

"You're really alright, right?" Ai asked, unable to keep the relief out of her expression as she checked the girl over and found that nothing seemed out of place. "You're not hurt anywhere?"

"No." Shaking her head, Ayumi smiled at her friends. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Do you really not remember anything, Ayumi-chan?" Conan asked. "Anything at all?"

"Ah, no." Ayumi shook her head again, and Conan frowned a little- there was something about her reaction that struck him as almost being a lie. But there was no reason why Ayumi would lie to him, was there? "I really don't remember anything. All I know is that I went to bed, and the next thing I knew, I was in the park with everyone else."

"But you really did a good job, getting everyone to the police box like that. It was the right decision." Ai said, a note of what almost seemed to be pride in her voice.

"Of course!" Nodding her head, Ayumi couldn't help but beam at the praise. "I am a member of the Detective Boys, after all! In a situation like that, I have to do my best to take charge! By the way though," She frowned, glancing around as if she was searching for someone. "Where's Heiji-niichan? I heard that he was helping the investigation..."

"He had something to do, he said." Conan couldn't help but grumble a little as he spoke. "Why do you ask, Ayumi-chan?"

"I just wanted to thank him for trying to search for me, that's all." Ayumi told him, a small frown on her face. "And of course, you too, Conan-kun! I heard that you ran all around with Heiji-niichan after I went missing."

"Ah, well..." Trailing off a little, Conan rubbed the back of his head, unable to help but feel a little flustered. Before he knew it, he had gotten attached to these kids, it seemed. He was actually going to miss them a little when he went back to his own body- he'd have to take steps to ensure that they didn't miss 'Edogawa Conan' half as much, he thought. "Of course. You are one of the Detective Boys, after all."

Pleased with that, Ayumi looked up at her mother who had joined them. "Mom and I are going to get breakfast together, since I haven't eaten yet this morning. Do you guys want to join us? They can, right, mom?" She asked, looking up at her.

"Of course." Ayumi's mother smiled at them. "The more the merrier."

"Ah, I'll pass." Conan said, holding up a hand. "I have to go meet up with Heiji-niichan before he heads back to Osaka. I'll pass on your thanks though, Ayumi-chan." He said, looking over towards the girl.

"Okay, I got it, Conan-kun." Nodding her head, Ayumi took her mother's hand. "Then, we'll see each other later, right?"

"Yeah." Nodding his head, Conan watched as the rest of the Detective Boys followed behind Ayumi and her mother down the sidewalk. Ai briefly spared a glance back at him, silently asking him if he was still thinking strange things about Heiji, to which he simply shrugged his shoulders.

He couldn't deny that Heiji's behavior during the case had been odd- and then there was the way that Hayashi Riku, the man suspected as having something to do with the kidnappings, had reacted to him. He had definitely heard the man say something along the lines of him not expecting to see Heiji here, which thoroughly baffled Conan. He knew that Heiji had a reputation of his own as being a skilled high school detective, but that alone didn't seem to fit the man's strange reaction.

And there was the way that he had suddenly seemed to lose interest in the case once it was announced that the children were safe and sound, that was odd as well. Normally, Heiji wouldn't give up on the scent of a case until after it was solved. And yet, he was apparently planning on heading back to Osaka today. It didn't make any sense.

And speaking of which, hadn't Heiji come here in the first place because he was worried about him? What had happened to that? It appeared that whatever fears Heiji's dream had induced in him were gone now, which mystified Conan considering the way that Heiji had been sticking to his side like glue for the past two days. While he certainly didn't believe Heiji's nightmare was in any way prophetic, it really didn't matter what he believed in this case- it only mattered what Heiji believed. And Heiji, for whatever reason, did.

That was odd too, now that Conan thought about it, although that, at least, he could come up with a reasonable explanation for. After the events some months ago back in Osaka, where he had nearly gotten stabbed and would have if it weren't for the handcuff link in the charm that Heiji had lent to him blocking the knife, it was no wonder that Heiji was being somewhat cautious about what his dreams told him in regards to his friend.

There was no other way, Conan thought, but to ask Heiji directly.

Finding his friend hadn't been hard. He more or less knew where he was going to be, after all, Heiji had told him that much. The 'thing he had to do' that Conan had mentioned before had been nothing more than getting himself some coffee- he had half dozed off at the breakfast table earlier, and had conked out on a park bench while Conan was scouring Beika Park for clues, his lack of sleep quickly catching up to him. In all likelihood, he was at the closest coffee shop to the detective agency, which was where Conan headed towards.

And skidded to a halt as he peered inside the window, having to do a double take at what he saw within.

Heiji was inside, sure enough, but it was quickly apparent to Conan that he wasn't alone. And what's more, he was with a girl- one that _wasn't_ Kazuha, or even Ran. It was a girl Conan had never seen before. He was quickly struck by her beauty- even though he had no one in his heart but Ran, even he had to admit it when he ran into someone this attractive. With her long, silky black hair and a slender figure, the strange girl that Heiji was talking to was definitely the center of attention inside of the shop, mainly from it's male customers who couldn't take their eyes off of her.

Whatever conversation they were having, it appeared to be brief. After a quick exchange of words, she parted from him, leaving the coffee shop without having even bought anything, from the looks of it. Frowning, Conan watched her pass, the strange girl apparently paying him no real heed.

Entering into the coffee shop, Conan sought out his friend. "Hattori." He spoke up, glancing behind him in the direction the girl had gone. "Who was that?"

Heiji started a little at the sound of Conan's voice, breaking out into a slight cold sweat. "Who, that? That was nobody." Waving a hand, Heiji laughed a little. "Just someone I sort of know. The daughter of a friend's mom's cousin's sister." He said, quickly glancing away from Conan. "That's all."

"That's all?" Conan asked, an incredulous expression on his face. As he slid into the chair across from Heiji, he heaved an annoyed sigh. It was obvious that he was lying to him again- for whatever reason, he didn't want to talk about who that mysterious girl was. Another thing to add to the ever growing checklist of 'strange Hattori Heiji things'. "Ayumi-chan said thanks, by the way."

"Ah, is that so?" Heiji blinked rapidly, shifting in a strange way in response to her name. "It's good ta hear she's safe an' sound."

"You know, you've been acting strange ever since the day before yesterday." Conan said frankly, cutting straight to the point, folding his arms in front of his chest. "You've been keeping things from me, albeit badly, and it's not like you to put an investigation behind you this quickly. What I want to know, Hattori, is why. Is there something bothering you? Have you gotten involved in something bad, maybe? You know I can help you if that's the case."

"No, no, no!" Heiji was quick to say, shaking his head. So Kudo really was suspicious of him. Well, he'd thought that much- this was the closest he'd ever come to brushing up against some of Heiji's other work, after all, and given how observant his rival was, it was no surprise that he'd picked up on any irregularities surrounding his friend. "Nothing of the sort, Kudo!"

" _Ssh_." Lifting a finger to his lips, Conan let out a harsh shushing sound. "Don't use that name. Ran might not be around, but we're still in public, Hattori."

"Ah, sorry. My bad." Heiji blinked. "But it's really nothing like that, Ku-Conan-kun." He winced, realizing that he'd literally just screwed up his name right after Conan told him not to do it. "Why do ya ask?"

"Like I said, you've been acting strange." Conan repeated himself, staring directly at Heiji's face. "What I want to know is why. It's not like you to keep secrets from me in the first place, Hattori."

"Well, that's..." Heiji trailed off, wondering what he should say in this situation. For a brief moment, he actually entertained the idea of telling Conan the truth- the whole truth. It had been an idea dancing in the back of his head ever since he'd learned the connection between Kudo Shinichi and Edogawa Conan, but it was never one that he'd ended up acting upon. Conan trusted him, so he wanted to return that trust in kind, he honestly did.

The idea that he might not believe him even if he told him quickly overpowered that desire. The last thing he wanted was for the person he'd quickly come to consider his best friend to look at him with _those_ eyes, with _that_ sort of expression. It was that sort of thing haunting his childhood that had caused him to grow up into someone who outwardly played the skeptic in the first place. All the more so with Conan, who knew full well never believed in that sort of thing. As much as Heiji had tried to drag him to places where his firmly held beliefs might be shaken, everything had always turned out to be hoaxes in those instances, and before he knew it, Conan had cemented an impression of Heiji in his mind of him being just as skeptical of that sort of thing as he was.

There was no way he could just tell him. At best, he would think he was just making a joke. At worst, well...

Like he said, _those_ eyes were something he'd never wanted to see directed at him from Conan.

Inwardly frowning, Heiji braced himself what was likely to follow. "It doesn't really matter, does it? What's wrong with it if I want to keep one or two secrets from ya? It's not like ya share everythin' with me in the first place either. Ya haven't said a word ta me about those guys for the longest, in case you've forgotten."

"That..." Conan began, before he closed his mouth again, scratching his head. He should have known Heiji wouldn't make this easy. "That's different."

"How is it different?" Heiji asked, leaning his chin into his hand. "Ya know I'm always ready ta come help ya with that if ya need it. But I can't do anythin' if ya won't say anythin' ta me in the first place."

"Don't try and change the subject, Hattori." Conan said, ire rising within him. "We aren't talking about me right now, we're talking about you."

"I'm just sayin'. If it's okay fer you ta keep secrets from me, then I don't see why ya get to complain if I'm keepin' a few from you. Ya don't know everythin' about me, Kudo." Heiji told him frankly.

At the use of his actual name again, Conan twitched, before reminding himself that Heiji wasn't doing it on purpose. "Hattori-" He began again, before Heiji cut him off, holding up a hand.

"Look, Kudo." Heiji said, looking at his friend straight in the eye. "Yer like, one of my best friends, ya know that, right? An' I value you a whole lot as my rival too. But if there's things I don't wanna tell ya just yet, then yer just gonna have ta accept that. Maybe I'll tell you in the future, maybe I won't. Hell, maybe you'll figure it out on yer own, yer good at that sort of thing after all. But I need ya ta understand there's just some stuff in my life that I really don't wanna talk ta people too much about if I can help it. Ya understand?"

"No, I _don't_ understand." Conan said frankly. "I gave you my most important secret, Hattori, so I just kind of was expecting that you would treat me in kind. Obviously," his eyes narrowed as he spoke. "I was mistaken."

"Technically I figured out yer secret on my own. All ya did was provide some context." Heiji pointed out, arching an eyebrow, before flashing him a fierce grin, white teeth standing out against dark skin. "So why don't'cha try an' do the same, Kudo? If yer really the great detective yer all cracked up ta be, that is. Well, given how ya are, it might take ya some time to unravel it."

Besides, if he figured it out for himself, then that would mean Heiji wouldn't have to see that kind of expression on his friend's face.

"Is that a challenge?" Conan asked. This was probably bait, but damned if he wasn't going to take it. Heiji? Challenging him? Bring it on. Whatever this guy was trying to hide from him would come to light before long. "Fine, I'll take it then. But if I figure it out, you have to tell me everything, you got that?"

"Loud and clear!" Heiji said, standing up and picking up his coffee. "If ya figure things out, I won't have even the smallest problem with tellin' ya the rest. Provided ya can."

"Oh believe me." Conan told him, getting to his feet. "I _will_."

As the pair parted on something of a sour note, Conan once again couldn't help but recall the fortune he'd gotten at the shrine the other day.

_'Your faith in a close friend will be shaken as you unravel the secrets they've been hiding.'_

Damnit, Conan thought to himself. That fortune had been _right_.  
_______________________________________________________________

One simply got used to the way Heiji often appeared without warning over time. So when Hattori Shizuka crossed paths with her son in the hallway of their home, having not even been aware he'd even returned from his impromptu trip to Tokyo, she honestly wasn't the least bit surprised. What did catch her attention, however, was that he seemed to be in a bad mood.

"Is something wrong, Heiji?" Shizuka called out to him, gracefully turning around mid-step to face her somewhat surly looking son. "Did you fight with Kazuha again?"

"No, not Kazuha." Heiji grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "I just had something of a spat with Kudo, I guess. That's all."

"Oh, I see." Shizuka frowned a little. She knew full well who this 'Kudo' her son mentioned was, though she'd never actually had a chance to meet the young man known as the great detective of the east. "That's too bad, Heiji. I know the two of you are close. Do you think it will sort itself out?"

"It should. Maybe." Shrugging his shoulders, Heiji honestly wasn't sure himself. Hopefully this fight would blow over quickly- he didn't really enjoy the idea of fighting with his best friend- not like this, at any rate. Sure, he could have just told him the truth, he thought- but that was just something he couldn't do. "Probably."

"Why the sudden trip out to Tokyo, though, Heiji?" Shizuka asked, carefully observing her son. Not only had she not noticed her son return, she'd only noticed that he'd left in the first place because he'd left a note on his desk. That too, was something she had gotten used to over time. She knew exactly how impulsive her son could be at times, after all. If he got an idea in his head, he was sure to follow it. "Did you possibly have another dream?"

From the way he flinched at the question and averted his gaze from her, Shizuka knew that she was right. She wasn't sure when it had begun, exactly, and she wasn't quite certain what to make of her son's apparent gift to foresee disaster in his dreams, but it had been something that had constantly plagued his childhood. When he'd stopped talking about them upon entering middle school, she had briefly assumed that they had stopped- but closer observation of her son's actions told her that they most likely hadn't. Eventually Heiji had realized that his mother was fully aware that the dreams hadn't stopped, and would open up to her about them sometimes, should she ask. She was alone in this regard though- they were something that he wouldn't speak about, even to Kazuha, which frankly broke Shizuka's heart knowing how close they were otherwise.

It was an ability that Heiji often liked to deny having to those outside of the Hattori family, after all. Well, given what had happened in the past, it wasn't like she blamed him. Heiji being who he was, he had always strived to prevent whatever it was he saw in his dreams from happening- and the one time that he couldn't still weighed heavily on him, a burden that he had been entirely too young to take up at the time.

Shizuka couldn't help but wonder if that was one of the reasons he'd set his sights on becoming a detective in the first place. Maybe people would actually listen to him more then.

"I see." Shizuka said softly, her gaze understanding and gentle. "How did it go?"

"...Fine." Heiji said after a moment, scratching his cheek. "It went fine. He didn't believe me, but it went fine."

"Is this 'he' Kudo, then?" Shizuka inquired.

"...Maybe." Heiji said after a moment. "Anyways, he's fine, so that's all that matters, right? 'Sides, even if he doesn't believe, he humors me. An' that... that's not that bad."

"Are you certain you're fine with that?" Shizuka asked him, her tone and expression both soft. She worried for her son in regards to this matter, it was only natural. Given the way that corpses already seemed to follow him around in the world of the waking, ever since he had started to pursue becoming a detective in earnest, she couldn't help but feel it was rather cruel that he saw them in his dreams as well, especially when they were the only dreams he ever saw. "He's important to you, isn't he?"

"Well... yeah. But he's not like Kazuha, mom." Heiji shrugged his shoulders, giving her a half smile. "He's definitely the skeptic type."

"Would you prefer it if he wasn't?" Shizuka asked. If that was the case, she knew without having to ask that her son probably put on a mask of being a skeptic around him as well. Ordinarily her son was a terrible liar, even she had to admit that much- but when it came to pretending that there were things that he couldn't see, and things that he couldn't hear, that he knew less about the world around him than he actually did, he excelled in that area. He'd gotten so good at it that he'd even managed to convince Kazuha that the things he'd said as a child were just the fancies of a child with an overactive imagination- that the adults with harsh tongues and foul things to say had been right. Honestly, Shizuka almost wished he didn't feel the need to.

Another moment of hesitation passed, before Shizuka finally got her answer. "Well, maybe. Look, mom, can we not talk about this? I didn't get much sleep last night, so I was plannin' on sort of nappin' until lunch, if that's not a problem."

"Oh!" Shizuka let out a slight gasp. She'd been so keen on reading her son's emotions that she hadn't even noticed the bags underneath his eyes- shame on her! "Of course, Heiji. By all means. Do you want me to wake you up after lunch is ready?"

"Yeah, that'd be great." Heiji said after a moment, her usual quick grin returning. "Anyways, don't worry about me an' Kudo. We'll work somethin' out soon enough."

Watching her son retreat back towards his room, letting a yawn escape from his lips, Shizuka couldn't help but frown a little, recalling how excited her son had been after he'd returned from meeting this 'Kudo' fellow for the first time. There had been a time when she hoped that it would be to this Kudo that he would completely open up to- to tell him the things that her son even kept hidden from her knowledge. After he went on a trip with Kazuha up to the Tottori prefecture however, she couldn't help but notice that his enthusiasm had slipped a little, and was simple for her to come to the conclusion as to why, especially after she heard the details of the case from Kazuha.

She knew full well after all, that it was no coincidence that her son was constantly involved in cases which seemed almost supernatural on the surface. That sort of thing was drawn towards her son, and had been ever since he was a baby, as far back as she could remember. It was why they had come to raise him in the first place. She didn't quite understand the why of it, but at the very least, it seemed like Heiji had earned the resolve to face such a destiny head on.

Even if she had no idea what kind of destiny it was herself. There were, after all, things her son wasn't telling her.

And so Hattori Shizuka did as any mother would- she worried.  
___________________________________________________________________

"Given the mood you're in, I'm going to assume that your talk with Hattori-kun didn't go well." Ai didn't look up from her cellphone, currently in the middle of fiddling with something on it. "Do you want to talk about it, or are you just going to sulk for the rest of the day?"

"I'm not _sulking_." Conan protested, glowering over at Ai. "I'm just a little annoyed, that's all."

"Hm." Ai briefly glanced up at him, not convinced. "Then, as I asked before, do you want to talk about it? That's why you're here, aren't you?"

"He told me to figure out his secret by myself." Conan grumbled, slumping back into the sofa, half wishing to sink back into it. He didn't like the idea of fighting with Heiji, and honestly, he half wanted to call him up and apologize already- but his own stubborn pride wouldn't let him. "I'm trusting him with a huge secret of my own, and he won't even return the favor! I can't believe it."

"I'm sure Hattori-kun probably has his reasons." Ai observed simply.

"Don't tell me you're on his side?" Conan asked, quirking a brow.

"Perhaps." Ai said simply, finally setting back down her phone. "The only thing I'm saying, Kudo-kun, is that people have their reasons as to why they keep secrets, and reasons as to why they keep them from certain people. Given how fond Hattori-kun appears to be of you, there must be quite a good reason for it. I don't think he's keeping it a secret just to spite you. Perhaps it's necessary that you find out the truth yourself."

"Telling me would be easier." Conan said with a sigh. "Well, it's not like I'll pass up on the prospect of a challenge, though. It's just a bit difficult when I'm not even sure where to start looking. Plus as much as I took him up on the challenge, I'm not really sure how comfortable snooping around in regards to someone I consider a friend."

"Perhaps Hattori-kun is involved in something he finds difficult to talk to you about." Ai said simply, shrugging her shoulders. "Perhaps you should first start with examining his cases. Where he's been and what he's been doing in the public eye might start to shed some light on whatever secrets he might be keeping. You could also just ask that Toyama girl." She added with a slight shrug.

"Asking Kazuha-san almost seems like cheating." Conan frowned. "By the way, you said yesterday that you always thought Hattori was strange. Why was that?"

"Normally one wouldn't make the connection between a teenager and what they think to be a child so easily, all the more so if it's an outsider." Ai said simply, recalling what Conan had told her. "That girl from the detective agency is one thing, since she knows you best, but I thought it was odd that someone who had only met you all of once before was able to so quickly deduce that Kudo Shinichi and Edogawa Conan were the same person. Well, there's that and his habit of simply appearing out of thin air, so to speak. If you look closely at Hattori-kun, he's filled with strange habits, really."

"Whatever the case, Hattori-kun probably isn't normal. That's what I feel." Ai told him frankly. "Well, although what exactly that might mean, I couldn't tell you, Kudo-kun. You know him better than I do."

"Well, it is true that it's a pretty big logical leap to make." Conan admitted after a moment, closing his eyes, before a grim expression crossed his face, the one possibility he didn't want to think of crossing his mind. "You don't think he could be mixed up with _them_ somehow, do you?"

The uproarious burst of laughter that question got from Ai soundly vetoed that theory, and frankly, he was glad for it, letting a breath of relief escape. Sitting back up, he pulled out his phone, deciding to take Ai's earlier advice and start scouring the newspaper articles for any mention of Hattori Heiji. He might have been less famous than Kudo Shinichi- he couldn't help but feel a little smug about this- but there was no doubt that he'd turn up his fair share of news articles.

He got as far as the front page of the news website, before he cringed.

"What is it?" Ai asked, taking note of his curious reaction. "Did you find something?"

"No, it's not that." Conan heaved a sigh, holding up his phone again to show her what had caught his attention. "That old man's trying to challenge Kaito Kid again. Apparently he's challenging him to steal something called a Dragon's Egg this time."

"I see." Ai said, quirking a brow. "And if it's one of that old man's challenges, that means you're going to get involved as well, aren't you, Kudo-kun?"

"Yeah." Pulling his phone back, he scoured over the article, taking mental notes about the information contained within. "Well, I admit, I'm curious to find out how Kid plans to make off with something that's supposed to weigh roughly thirty pounds."

"Why don't you try inviting Hattori-kun to the heist with you?" Ai asked. "It might help you make up with him, even if it doesn't lead you to any clues about his secret."

At that, Conan could only snort. "Hattori's not the least bit interested in Kid. There's no way he'd go to a Kid heist, even if I invited him."  
__________________________________________________________

The rather colorful string of swears that Heiji strung together upon reading the news only managed to earn him the mildest of warnings about language from his otherwise indifferent mother. It couldn't be helped, really. Kaito Kid, after all, was on the short list of things that Heiji wasn't really interested in dealing with- in part because he caught the interest of that Hakuba guy, and in part because there was something about the flashy, showy thief that Heiji fundamentally just didn't care for. He knew Conan seemed to have something resembling 'fun' at his heists, which was honestly something that continuously mystified Heiji- but frankly, he just could not bring himself to care one bit about Kaito Kid.

And yet, he internally grumbled, scrolling through the news article, it appeared that he wasn't going to have much of a choice in the matter. If the source of the challenge this time was what he thought it was, then he had no choice but to go and check it out.

He always had the vague feeling that one of these days, his duty was going to cause him to be dragged kicking and screaming to a Kid heist, but he'd always hoped his intuition would be off the mark on this one.

Hopefully, at the very least, the egg in question wouldn't turn out to be the real thing, and he wouldn't have to take any action. Somehow though, he very much doubted it.


	4. Dragon's Egg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignoring a warning from a certain witch, a certain phantom thief accepts the challenge thrown at him- and overhears some interesting things in the process.

"I wouldn't accept that challenge, if I were you."

The slight twitch of one of his eyes was all that Kuroba Kaito gave to Koizumi Akako in response to her words. Smiling at her, a hint of irritation mixed into the expression, he turned to face the witch head on. "I have no idea what you could possibly mean. I'm not accepting any challenges, nor have I been challenged to do anything in the first place. Aren't you mixing me up with Kaito Kid again?"

"I suppose that I am." Akako said simply, turning her gaze away from him, staring down at the courtyard outside of the windows below them. "Well, if I were that phantom thief, I personally would not accept the gauntlet that has been thrown at him this time."

"And why would that be?" Kaito asked, arching a brow. Akako's warnings, whenever she cared to give them, were usually not that far off the mark, so it would pay to listen to them, however much he had no intention of heading her advice and refusing the challenge. Granted, the Dragon's Egg, the focus of this time's challenge was somewhat outside of his interests as a thief- but it nevertheless intrigued him, already coming up with various plans on how to make off with something that large and that heavy.

All the more so because this in fact, _was_ one of that rich old man's challenges. Not only would he not be able to deal with his egotistical reaction should he turn down his challenge, but he would never pass up a chance to go toe to toe with the strange boy known as Edogawa Conan, who earned himself a fairly justified reputation as being the Kid Killer. Even Kaito had to admit that much.

Just thinking about a wonderful trick that would take the little tantei-kun's breath away had Kaito glowing like a kid on Christmas.

"If that egg is what I think it is, chances are you won't be the only one to be interested in it." Watching the way Kaito's expression subtly shifted at her words, Akako let out a slight sigh, realizing he'd assumed something completely different from her meaning. "No, not like _that_ , Kuroba-kun. You don't have to worry about the other interested party shooting at you, at the very least."

"Like I said, I don't have to worry about anything like that in the first place, because I'm not Kaito Kid." His twitch this time was more due to Akako nearly giving him a heart attack with that cryptic warning of hers- though it did strike his interest nevertheless. If it wasn't those guys who would be interested in it, then who? Another phantom thief, perhaps? It had happened more than once, so it wouldn't exactly surprise him. "What's so important about this so-called egg, after all?"

"Well, if you think about it for a few seconds, I'm certain you might figure it out for yourself." Akako said simply. "But that's all I have to say, Kuroba-kun. If that Kaito Kid does intend on meeting this challenge tonight, he should be careful that his prey isn't stolen right out of his hands."

There was a long pause then, as Kaito's eyes narrowed, a sharp frown on his lips. "...You're not by any chance trying to imply that this egg is the real deal?"

"Who knows." Closing her eyes, a vague hint of a smile danced on the witch's lips. "That remains to be seen."

"Wait a second, Akako!" Calling out to the girl proved to be fruitless, as she turned on her heel and walked away, leaving him just as quickly as she had appeared in the first place. Left to puzzle over her cryptic words, Kaito's brows knitted together, wondering if she could have possibly been serious.

Even if he was looking for a stone that was rumored to grant immortality, and even if Akako was a genuine witch, Kuroba Kaito, also known as none other than Kaito Kid, had to admit that he found it a little difficult for him to believe that the item in question this time could truly be a real dragon's egg.

Where would the old man have managed to get something like that in the _first_ place?  
________________________________________________________________________

Another day, another Kaito Kid heist.

In spite of still very eagerly anticipating what the phantom thief's trick would be tonight, Conan couldn't help but find himself more than a little distracted, his mind still fixed on whatever Heiji's secret might be. And equally, he found himself dwelling on the fact that they were fighting. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he didn't like it, and secret or no secret, he couldn't help but want to make up with his Osakan friend as quickly as possible.

Ai was probably right, after all. If there was something that Heiji was actually keeping from him, he probably had good reasons for it. All the more so because his friend was usually too honest for his own good. It wasn't like he had tried to discourage him from finding out what said secret might be either- rather he'd outright challenged him to find out what it might be. With those facts in mind, he decided that the next time he saw Heiji, he'd try to make some amends with him, one way or the other.

But for the moment, he supposed, he needed to focus on what was in front of him- quite literally. He'd seen pictures of it in the paper, of course, but actually seeing the item that had been dubbed the Dragon's Egg in person was another thing entirely. Carefully nestled in a stand specially crafted to prevent theft, the Dragon's Egg was aptly named, Conan thought to himself, as it indeed, resembled a massive egg. It was probably slightly larger than Conan's head, and had been described to him as weighing around thirty pounds- not an easy thing for even a phantom thief of Kaito Kid's talents to make off with.

From a distance, it almost appeared to be somewhat plain, but when you came in close to it, it was quickly obvious that this wasn't the case. From within the brown rock that covered it's surface, veins of ruby red and gold and could be clearly seen, glittering underneath the museum's lights. According to Jirokichi, they were veins of real gold and real rubies, which all in all made it fascinating to look at. He'd been allowed to briefly touch it by the old man, and couldn't help but notice that it was strangely warm to the touch, something he couldn't help but find curious.

Currently the Suzuki Museum, the location of that night's challenge, was bustling with people. It seemed that the old man had plans to start limiting entrance to the museum an hour or so before the heist, but considering this was also the Dragon's Egg debut day, he didn't exactly want to hinder the flow of business. There were already undercover police officers mixed into the crowd, Conan noticed, and of course, Inspector Nakamori was already at the scene, discussing something with some of the officers who were still in uniform.

The hour before the heist, Jirokichi apparently planned to shut everyone out of the room in which the Dragon's Egg was stored in, at which point he'd be turning on a rather impressive array of laser security beams. Contact with even just one would turn the entire room into a giant cage, the likes of which even the sneak thief would find it hard to work his way out of.

Conan had already gone over the general layout of the museum- at this point he practically knew it like the back of his hand from all the times he'd been here. He imagined Kid did as well, however, so he couldn't let down his guard. If he didn't miss his guess, the thief was probably already somewhere within the museum- the question was, of course, as to where- and who. Casting his eyes around the room, he began to pick out any potential suspects.

One guest quickly caught his attention, but it wasn't because he suspected that she might be the disguised Kaito Kid. No rather, it was because he recognized her- as he took good long look at the straight, silky black hair, the sheen of which was tinted a strange red color, he almost instantly recognized her as the girl Heiji had been speaking with the other day.

The one he didn't want Conan to know about.

Within the crowded museum, much like at the coffee shop, she was drawing attention from the male patrons- more so than the various marvels that were on display, in fact. To think that he would run into her again so soon, and at a Kid heist of all things- what were the odds?

When he thought about it, they weren't that unlikely, actually. She never would have had any particular significance to him, and it wasn't like it was that unusual for there to be a teenage girl hanging around at the location of a Kid heist. They were, after all, pretty much the largest bulk of the phantom thief's fans.

Frankly, he didn't understand the appeal.

The girl was carefully watching the case where the Dragon's Egg was stored, her eyes narrowed in what appeared to be thought. Deciding that now would be as good a time as any to learn the identity of this mysterious girl, Conan carefully made his way through the crowded museum, until he stood by her side. Beaming up at her, the mask of an innocent child on in full force, he shifted a little on his feet.

"Hey, onee-san!" He piped up. "Did you come here to see the Dragon's Egg?"

The girl blinked, startled from her thoughts, gaze shifting until she looked down at the small child by her side. Her brows seemed to crinkle as she looked at him, a look of confusion, followed by a look of interest dancing across her face. "That's right." She said after a moment, a certain self-assurance carried in her voice. "I'm quite curious about it. What of you, boy?"

"I think it's interesting!" Conan nodded his head. "I'm Edogawa Conan! What's your name?"

"Ah, you're that..." The girl's brows raised ever so slightly, before she closed her eyes, a slight laugh escaping from her lips. "I see. I'm Koizumi Akako. A pleasure."

"Heeh, Akako-neesan, is it?" Conan kept his smile on his face, even as he wondered what it was that she had been about to say. Well, they were at a Kid heist, and he was well known as the 'Kid Killer', so perhaps it was simply in regards to that. Somehow, however, he didn't think that was quite the case, and he couldn't help but wonder again what Heiji's connection to this girl was.

He couldn't help but notice that there was something slightly strange in the atmosphere around her, something he couldn't quite place.

"That's right." Akako said simply, the corners of her mouth twitching into a slight smile, a somewhat sly nature to it. "But I'm surprised, boy. I thought children of your age weren't interested in things such as this. Unless perhaps, there's another reason you're at this museum today?"

"I came to help out the police!" Conan told her, glancing over towards the corner of the room where Inspector Nakamori was. "Are you here to see the Kid heist too, Akako-neesan?"

"Let's see..." Akako seemed to consider her response, before inclining her head ever so slightly. "I suppose you could say that. I'm not entirely uninterested in finding out how it goes, at least."

There was something strangely cryptic about that answer, Conan thought. But before he had much of a chance to question it, the girl seemed to catch something- or someone- in her gaze.

"Pardon me. I do believe I see someone I know." Akako said simply, excusing herself with no uncertain amount of grace. Although Conan attempted to speak up and stop her, she'd vanished into the crowd before he could even do so, or even catch a glimpse of whoever it was she was speaking of.

Cursing his small stature, Conan let slip a small irritated sigh, deciding to turn his attention back towards the Dragon's Egg for the time being.  
____________________________________________________________________

Conan wasn't the only one in the crowded room who had been paying attention to Akako, it seemed. In all honesty, he'd been more than a little bit surprised to see her there- usually when Akako showed up at one of his heists, it was normally after everything was said and done. It also normally meant that she was up to no good, so he couldn't help but take the witch's presence at the Suzuki Museum today as something of an ill omen. Even if she intended no harm, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly it was that had brought Akako all the way out here today.

He'd actually felt his heart leap out a little out of his chest when she began speaking to Edogawa Conan, of all people. Or rather, the troublesome young detective had begun speaking to her, something which he hadn't missed, and quite honestly caught his interest more than a little. Certainly a guy speaking with Akako wasn't all that strange- she did charm their attention towards her, after all, but Kaito already knew full well that this didn't apply in the least bit to children, leaving him to wonder exactly what had caught _tantei-kun's_ interest in regards to the witch.

From where he had concealed himself amongst the crowd, he couldn't quite make out what they were saying, to his annoyance, and he didn't dare get any closer least he expose himself to Conan. While he thought his current disguise, mixed in as one of his own adoring teenage female fans, was quite well done today, it wouldn't be the first time that the young detective had seen through one of his disguises with ease.

When Akako excused herself, neatly cutting through the crowd, that caught Kaito's attention as well, and he couldn't help but follow her with his eyes, wondering where she was going. She walked right past him in fact, not sparing the disguised phantom thief a moment's glance, making a beeline for someone else in the room. Tilting his head back a little so that he could see her properly, he pursed his lips slightly, eyebrows furrowing as there was something about the person she was meeting that struck a bell in him- even if he didn't exactly know _why_.

From his dark skin, Kaito momentarily wondered if he could be a foreigner- until he got a good look at his face, however, and quickly determined that he was likely Japanese. His expression caught no small measure of Kaito's interest- he'd never seen a guy glower at Akako that way, and although he was keeping his voice down as best he could, Kaito could still make out the distinct sound of an Osakan accent being used.

Frowning, Kaito quickly put together the small amount of information he had, racking his brain as to why this teenager seemed so vaguely familiar to him. Dark skin, Osakan accent, a baseball cap worn low over his brow. It struck a chord in him, but exactly where...?

Ah. _Ah!_

A pleased smirk quickly appeared on his face, Kaito's eyes lighting up almost like a kid on Christmas morning. As many problems as they might present him, he nevertheless found himself strangely interested in the so-called trinity of high school detectives. Of course, he had no shortage of matches against Hakuba Saguru, and had even managed to have a match with the ever elusive Kudo Shinichi once before- but this marked the first time he'd ever spotted Hattori Heiji at the scene of one of his heists. Even when he put on a heist in Osaka, the detective of the west's home stomping grounds, he'd never shown for any of them. It was almost as if he were completely uninterested in the thief, which, frankly, Kaito found borderline insulting.

Still... he couldn't help but notice that it almost seemed like Hattori Heiji and Akako knew each other. A detective and a witch- it struck him as an odd combination indeed. He nearly let out a small sound when he watched the detective take Akako by the wrist, all but hauling her out of the room, and curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to follow after the pair.

Come to think of it, judging from what he knew about the boy wonder detective, it appeared that he was on rather friendly terms with the detective of the west. And yet he couldn't help but notice it was almost as if Conan didn't even know that Heiji was here- curious, very curious indeed. In fact, judging from the detective's hood and cap combination, it almost seemed as if he were trying to keep a low profile, which given what he knew from the news articles about the Osakan detective, was strange in and of itself.

There was, of course, the possibility that he was just trying to surprise Kaito Kid. Still, he liked to know as much as he possibly could about his opponents, so there was no way he was going to let this curiosity out of his sight until he was satisfied.

Although Akako snapped her wrist free of Heiji's grasp almost instantly, she nevertheless obliged to follow him to somewhere less crowded, where the two could chat in private. Hovering on the staircase just a floor above them, from where he could still make out their voices, Kaito hid himself behind the railing, keeping an ear out for an bits of information that might float his way.

"Like I asked, what are ya even doin' here?" He heard the Osakan detective almost hiss. Once again, it struck him as more than a little odd that Heiji almost seemed impervious to Akako's supposed charms- something which even Hakuba fell for. "Don't tell me yer interested in the Egg yerself, Koizumi?"

 _Yep, he definitely knows her_ , Kaito thought to himself as he caught the overly familiar way of addressing the witch. Still, his phrasing struck him as a little odd- it almost sounded like Heiji himself was interested in the Dragon's Egg as well.

"What's wrong with it if I am?" Akako spoke up, a note of amusement on her voice. "I'd take very good care of it myself. I'm sure you're aware of that much, Hattori-kun." She seemed to let out a slight laugh then. "I'm only joking. There's no need to put such a scary expression on your face, _guardian-san_."

Guardian? Kaito's brows knitted together, taking a moment to place the English word she had used. A protector of some kind? What did that mean?

"That's not somethin' ta joke about." He heard Heiji grumble, letting out an irritated sigh. "Ta think that somethin' like this would happen. I'm gonna have ta root out where that old man got the egg in the first place after all of this is said an' done. If there's someone out there sellin' em, I need ta put a stop to it real quick."

"If they raided a nest, they might have already gathered and sold several eggs." Akako said simply, the bemused note in her voice not fading. "I wish you luck in tracking them all down, if that's the case. Judging from how warm this one is, it might not be long until it hatches."

"Great." Heiji groaned. "Just my luck. _Of course_."

 _Wait a second here!_ Kaito thought to himself, wondering if his ears were deceiving him. From the way they were talking, it almost appeared as if they thought the Dragon's Egg was the real thing. That couldn't be, right? The thing he was trying to steal tonight wasn't a real, literal dragon egg, was it? Did this mean dragons were real?

Did this mean he was quite literally, about to steal _an actual dragon_?

As much as this was making his head spin in circles, somehow this information in no way discouraged the phantom thief. Stealing a literal dragon! How many chances in his life would he get to do something like that? Probably never! Like hell he was going to actually pass this chance up, if it was really true, Akako's warning be damned.

A warning, he couldn't help but feel now, that had been in regards to _Hattori Heiji_ , of all people. Kaito wasn't quite sure what to do with this information, or even if he should do anything with it at all. He'd file it away for later, surely enough, but he couldn't help but wonder what his number one skeptic would think of the person who apparently was his detective teacher, according to rumors he'd gathered from his fellow Detective Boys, chatting away about dragons with a real live witch.

Somehow he couldn't shake the feeling that Conan had no idea. He was almost certain the skeptical young lad wouldn't believe a word the thief said even if he tried to tell him, and all in all, decided that maybe leaking such information to him _wouldn't_ be such a good idea. One of the thing he knew about the Osakan detective was that he had a rather infamous temper- and after the Sera Masumi incident, the last thing he wanted to do was to give any detectives any cause to be genuinely, furiously angry at him. If by chance this was something that Heiji didn't want his disciple to know, then... well, who was he to leak out other people's secrets anyways?

"Well, I wish you luck, Hattori-kun." Akako's playful tone indicated to Kaito it might be perhaps a good time to make out like the bandit he was, and he quietly began to creep away back the way he had come. "I can't say that I won't be amused with whatever the results of this heist will be."

"Yeah, I'm _pretty damn sure_ of that." Heiji grumbled.  
_________________________________________________________________________

It basically went against every fiber of Heiji's being to not run up to Conan the very second he saw him. In fact the whole thing felt so fundamentally wrong that it was starting to give him an itch, he thought, as he ducked away from Conan's view once again. Suddenly he found himself grateful that his friend's shrunken state was so damn tiny- in addition to making him endlessly portable, it also meant that his field of vision was pretty low, and thus, easy to hide from if he put any real effort into it.

He'd considered using a glamour, at least for a moment- but what kind of idiot wore a disguise to a Kaito Kid heist. While it might not be something one could simply pull off with a yank of the hand, such a sudden action might cause a ripple in the illusion, and he had no intention of drawing undue attention to himself.

He was, after all, technically going to end up stealing something himself tonight. More _reclaim_ than _steal_ , really- but he doubted the law of man would really make an exception in this case. If his father ever learned about it, he'd have his hide.

It wouldn't technically be the first time he'd done something that flew in the face of the law while carrying out his duty, but it definitely was his most brazen attempt. It couldn't really be avoided- since the Dragon's Egg was at the center of one of that old rich guy's challenges to Kaito Kid, even if he came at a later time and snatched it up then, it'd still become the center of attention. He might as well try and get it over with as quickly as possible, before the damn thing hatched and spread a whole _new_ kind of panic throughout the Tokyo area.

And thus, he found himself hiding from the astute gaze of his best friend, all the while ducking out of the view of the police, on the off chance that any of them recognized him. If he'd known that this was going to happen, he'd have started attending Kid heists way before this, so that his sudden presence at one wouldn't seem so strange. Certainly, Heiji doubted that even if Conan caught sight of him, he'd suspect that he had any intention of stealing the Dragon's Egg himself but he was almost one hundred percent certain he'd become Conan's Candidate Number One for being Kaito Kid in disguise- and he wanted no part in that, _thank you very much_.

Running into Koizumi here had been trouble enough- he never knew what that damned witch was thinking more than half the time. Heiji was almost entirely certain that she was up to no good in every waking moment, from breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One of the only reasons he ever agreed to meet with her was because she knew what he was, and above all else, she knew _Hakuba Saguru_ , for some goddamned reason- and for some goddamned reason, the half-British fool was just as smitten with her as any other boy would be. It'd be hilarious were there not things about Heiji that Akako could tell Hakuba that he'd really, _really_ rather not have him know.

Like, for example, he was going to steal (reclaim!) the Dragon's Egg.

Now if only that infernal phantom thief would finally show up so he could get the damn show on the road already.  
__________________________________________________________

"Ladies and Gentlemen!"

Kid's voice boomed out amidst the crowd, signaling the start of yet another Kaito Kid heist. With a roar of approval from his fans almost drowning out Inspector Nakamori's shouted instructions to his fellow police officers, Kid eagerly got yet another magic show on the road.

It had been a simple bait and switch trick to gain access to the room where the Dragon's Egg was stored. Sometimes the classics worked the best, even if they weren't all that showy (and if he came up with a super flashy trick every time, they wouldn't be half as impressive as when he actually pulled them off). It hadn't fooled the boy wonder detective, of course, but it had fooled Inspector Nakamori, long enough for him to give the order to lift the cage from the room once it had crashed down. With a bit of mirrored glass that he'd set up earlier, it looked as if the case containing the Dragon's Egg was completely empty.

From there it had been a matter of shooting a card into the controls for the cage, disabling them from being used, and appearing in the room with a burst of smoke. He watched with great amusement as Conan's eyes narrowed, the boy's mind moving at a rapid pace. With a flourish of his cape, Kid set out to do what he had promised, and removed the Dragon's Egg from it's case, his poker face not even slipping as he quickly realized that thirty pounds of solid rock was definitely even heavier than he had expected it to be.

Laughing joyfully as his smoke bombs filled the room, sending museum patrons and police alike running for cover, he carefully slipped back into the crowd, blending in with them once more and hurrying out of the museum in a panic. The egg was too heavy for him to safely use his hang glider, after all.

He didn't doubt that _tantei-kun_ wasn't far behind him, but it had always been his intention to return the egg (and perhaps call for some backup, there was _no way_ that kid could manage to carry this thing back to the museum by himself) to the boy detective, and he already had a fail proof escape plan in place. If he knew that kid like he did, he was probably already on that weird skateboard of his, soaring after him in a hurry. It was probably only a matter of time before he caught up.

That was how things were going to go with _tantei-kun_ , Kaito knew that much- as for _tantei-han_ , on the other hand... now that was the real mystery. He'd kept an eye on him all throughout the heist, just as he had with Conan, and he hadn't missed the rather sour look on his face. Like the boy wonder detective, he hadn't been fooled by the bait or switch either, and Kid's smoke bombs filled up the room, the irritated look on his face had been a sight to behold.

As he was laughing to himself about that, feeling safe enough to not have to hold it in, something about the air changed. Sensing this, Kaito abruptly stopped laughing, narrowing his eyes as he looked around him. It was almost as if the air had grown stagnant, in a way he couldn't quite describe.

And then, for what only seemed to be the span of a moment, it was as if he himself froze. The feeling passed in an instant, and he shook it off easily enough, the air returning to normal afterwards. As he wondered what that was, there was one thing that became all too quickly apparent to the phantom thief.

His bag was a lot lighter than it was before. His mind reeling at this, he quickly took it off, unzipping it to reveal that it was completely empty. Pulling the bag all the way open and trying to shake out it's contents, Kaito could only stare in complete befuddlement as the large, heavy rock that had definitely been there one second before was now completely gone, without so much as a trace.

In spite of himself, Kaito let out a low whistle. Frankly, he couldn't help but be impressed- this would certainly be a trick he'd like to pick up himself. If _tantei-han_ had anything to do with this, as he suspected he did, he might just be willing to suggest a switch in careers to the hot blooded young man- a phantom thief might actually suit him better than a detective.  
_________________________________________________________________

From the mutual expressions of disbelief on their faces, Conan knew that neither Inspector Nakamori nor Suzuki Jirokichi could believe their ears.

"What do you mean, _he lost it_?" Nakamori blurted out, unable to process what the young boy in front of him had just told him, in such an utterly frank tone that he honestly couldn't find it in him to dispute it. One might think it strange that he put such faith in a seven year old, but the boy had pretty much never failed them when it came to Kid heists in the past.

"That's what he told me." Conan simply spread his hands out in front of him, not sure what to make of the situation either. When he'd caught up the phantom thief, he had simply spread out his hands in front of him, offering him no real explanation as to why he couldn't return the Dragon's Egg other than that he had, apparently, completely misplaced it.

He was lying, of course he was, but Conan was at least entirely certain that Kid didn't actually have the egg in his possession. It was unlike him not to return what he stole, and given that this wasn't in his usual strike zone of things to steal, he doubted that it could be what he was looking for.

Which really could only mean one thing- someone, as absurd as it was, had stolen the egg from _him_.

Conan felt like he was going to get a headache.

"Maybe if we review the security footage, we might notice something?" Conan asked, looking up at the two older men. They exchanged a glance between them, before eventually nodding their heads, leading the not-child to the security room. Rewinding the security tapes to just before the heist, the three settled in to watch them, trying to pinpoint anything that was out of the ordinary.

It was all Conan could do to keep his expression from changing when he noticed something very strange himself, nearly having to bite down on his tongue in order to avoid saying it out loud. Glancing between the two adults, it didn't appear that they had noticed anything themselves, and so he fixed his gaze once more on the very out of place figure captured in the security cameras.

What the hell was _Hattori_ doing at Kid heist?

For the briefest of moments, he considered the idea that this Heiji was a fake- but it was something he quickly dismissed. There would have been no point in Kid dressing up as Hattori if he wasn't actually going to make use of the disguise. There was also the fact that when Kid showed up on camera, his blinding white outfit standing out even on the security tape, Heiji hadn't moved from the spot he was in at all.

Which left only the possibility that this was the real deal. Which again, brought up the question- what the hell was he doing at a Kid heist?

Conan knew full well how utterly disinterested his rival was in Kaito Kid. He had in the past, tried to call Heiji to ask him if he wanted to join him at a Kid heist, thinking that if they combined their brains together, they might be able to find a way to pull a fast one on the elusive phantom thief. He'd been turned down every time however, and eventually, Conan had stopped asking entirely.

So to see him here, caught on tape, was nothing short of baffling. The fact that he'd been in the same building as Heiji the entire time and hadn't even noticed him was baffling as well- even if they were fighting, it was _beyond_ strange for the overly friendly Osakan to not make his presence known when he was around.

Mind you, he didn't really believe that Heiji had anything to do with the current state of affairs- recalling the girl called Akako from earlier, and the way she'd excused herself to meet up with a companion, his initial gut deduction was that perhaps she'd arranged to meet him there, and he'd just hung around afterwards. He likewise spotted the black haired girl in the crowd, making out her slender figure amongst the bystanders. If they were having some kind of secret meeting, that would explain why Heiji hadn't called out to him at any point before the heist.

What exactly was their relationship anyways? Given the way Heiji flushed and flustered over Kazuha, Conan seriously doubted that he was doing anything behind his childhood friend's back in that regard, which still left the question open and without any real answers.

Very quickly, he decided to keep his silence about his friend's presence here. Agreeing with the two adults that he didn't see anything strange on the cameras, Conan excused himself, hurrying to find someplace private to make a quick phone call, pulling out his cellphone and calling Heiji's number. It was only as the phone was ringing that he suddenly recalled that they were fighting, and for a moment, a brief desire flickered through him to hang up the phone- but it wasn't one he acted on.

"Kudo?" Heiji's voice came through on the other side, clear as day. There was a note of surprise in it, mild confusion even.

"Hattori." Conan spoke the name almost as if he were releasing his breath. "This is a weird question, but can you tell me where you are right now?"

"That's definitely a weird question, but okay." Heiji replied. "I'm at my house. I mean, it's like midnight, I'm not sure where else ya think I'd be right now. How has Neechan not dragged ya off ta bed by now is the question I wanna ask."

"Kid heist." Conan said shortly, at once relieved that Heiji seemed to be speaking normally to him, but also finding himself unable to believe a single word he said. "Special exception."

"Ah." Heiji said simply. "I don't get what ya see in that guy, Kudo."

"It's something you have to experience for yourself, really." Conan told him, wondering what action he should take. He opened his mouth, the question of whether or not what he had just told him earlier was a lie lingering in it- before dying down. He couldn't bring himself to ask it, he found to his great surprise. There was something about the concept of Heiji lying to him through his teeth that he found so strange and distasteful, that he half didn't want to challenge it, and let it lie.

"Look, Hattori, about the other day..." Conan began finally, deciding to start with an apology first. He'd figure out where to go from there afterwards. Having bad blood hang between them was the thing he liked least of all.

"Ah, ya don't need ta say anythin' Kudo." Heiji was quick to say, and Conan could almost _hear_ his customary grin on his face. "Don't worry 'bout it. I'm not mad at ya or anythin' like that. In fact," he began. "Why don't you and Neechan come down ta Osaka fer the weekend? It'll be fun!"

A little taken aback by the sudden offer, Conan blinked. "Y-yeah. I'll take you up on that then, Hattori. I mean I'll have to discuss it with Ran first, but..." He shook his head, smiling a little- he had been right, he did at least feel a little more ease now that he was certain Heiji wasn't mad at him. Apparently he was more attached to the overly friendly Osakan than he had realized. "I'm pretty sure she'll accept."

"That's great!" The enthusiasm in Heiji's voice was very much the real deal. "I can't wait, Kudo! I'll make sure the two of ya have a great time!"

"Then, I'd better go, Hattori. If I stay out much later than this, Ran really will have my hide." Conan told him, quickly exchanging goodbyes before hanging up and tucking his cellphone away. As nice as it was to get that off of his chest, it didn't change the fact that Heiji had blatantly lied to him about where he had been just earlier- there was no doubt, he thought, that he was still somewhere in Beika. There was no way in hell he would have been able to get back to Osaka so quickly- not even thirty minutes had passed.

He couldn't help but wonder if the reason that Heiji had so suddenly invited him over to Osaka was to actively help Conan with his investigation into his own secret. Perhaps Ai's theory had been right- that it was something that Heiji found hard to say. Perhaps it really was necessary that he uncover the truth himself. Well, if that was the case, then Conan wouldn't hesitate to take him up on his silent offer- he'd make sure to fully investigate Heiji to his heart's content this coming weekend.  
____________________________________________________________________

Hanging up his phone and tucking it in his pocket, Heiji hummed a slight tune to himself as he plucked the Dragon's Egg from his own bag, feeling it's warmth in his hands. Akako had been completely on the mark when she said it might hatch soon- with the egg this warm, it could happen any day now.

He'd swing by that house to drop this off before he returned to his own home. There was no way he could bring a stolen item that was going to be plastered all over the news into the house of the highest ranking member of the Osakan police, after all. He hadn't completely lied to Conan when he called- he was at the very least, heading home. Judging from the question, he'd probably noticed that Heiji had been there at some point, though it found it more than a little curious that he hadn't pressed the issue.

It sure was nice knowing that he wasn't mad at him anymore though- this more than anything, was the reason for his cheerful mood.

"Gonna have ta find some good places fer Kudo and Neechan to eat at~." Heiji grinned to himself, as he all but slipped out of the view of those with normal eyes. "It's gonna be great!"


	5. They Said in Hushed Whispers, "How Strange! How Strange!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Accepting Heiji's invitation to come visit Osaka, Conan quickly stumbles on more than he bargained for- both in relation to Heiji, and to an unexpected case that threatens to send a wave of fear through the Osakan streets.

Hattori Heizo was not one to believe in the supernatural.

This was one fact that had been consistent throughout his life. Be it fortune telling, ghosts, or tales of monsters, none of it was real, and not even the most frightening of horror stories could so much as ruffle his feathers. There was nothing to fear of from fake tales created for no other reason than to chill the spine- and perhaps tell a moral lesson while it was at it. He had been known as being so impervious to them that his classmates throughout his school years had actually made it their personal mission to give the stone faced Heizo a fright. His good friend Ginshiro, while just as much a skeptic as he, had no small part in such attempts.

It was an endeavor in which they had never once succeeded.

Hattori Heizo, after all, did not believe in the supernatural.

He did, however, believe in his son.

When a then four year old Heiji had tugged on his pants before he left for work one morning, and told him with a rather desperate look in his eyes to 'take the long way around', he hadn't understood what he'd meant at the time. It became crystal clear to him later in the day however, while in hot pursuit of a murder suspect. There had been two paths presented to him- the shortcut, that would allow him to cut off the suspect, and the long way around, which was safer, but carried the chance of losing him.

He'd taken the long way around, arriving just in time to watch as a faulty cable snapped at the construction site which the suspect had decided to cut through, crushing the man under a pile of steel beams. If he'd taken the same path as him, surely he would have been crushed to death that steamy summer afternoon as well.

This would only be the first of such events to occur. Without fail, his son's warnings, if not sometimes somewhat cryptic, were always right. The one time he'd chosen to ignore them, he'd barely escaped with his life.

Shizuka seemed to believe that their son possessed the power of prophecy, the ability to foresee disaster befall his loved ones in his dreams. Heizo was unsure of what he thought about such an absurd idea, but chose not to question his wife's belief in it. When whispers began to spread around the neighborhood about his son being an ill omen, he knew such a thing was absurd, foolish, and quite simply just not true.

He did not, after all, believe in the supernatural. It was simpler for him to believe in his son. Someone needed to.

It wasn't a matter he ever discussed with Heiji, and it didn't appear to be a matter that his son cared to bring up with his father either. It simply wasn't a subject that was brought up, father and son carrying a mutual, silent understanding between the two of them. There were many things that Hattori Heizo and Hattori Heiji did not discuss with each other, but for all those things, the boy whom Shizuka had brought into the family was nevertheless someone that Heizo cared for deeply, even if he didn't always show such a thing on the surface.

One of the things they never discussed was the fact that he was not their flesh and blood son. He wasn't quite certain when Heiji had realized it for himself, since they never brought it up to him, but he supposed it was only a matter of time that he saw through the lie that his dark skin was from his grandfather. Still, he continued to act as if he believed it, most likely for his mother's sake. The fact that Shizuka and Heizo had never had children of their own, ones who carried their shared blood, was not through any lack of trying- something which had plagued Shizuka throughout their early years of marriage.

When Shizuka had arrived at the Hattori household one day, a baby in her arms and no memory of where she'd found it, Heizo already seemed to understand that this was the child that would one day become their son.

Hattori Heizo did not believe in the supernatural- but he did believe in his son. So when Heiji had spared him a glance with _that look_ in his eyes that morning as he pulled on his boots, getting ready to head out to the train station to meet his guests from Tokyo, the head of the Osakan Prefectural police stopped to listen.

"Two knives, old man." Heiji said simply, holding up a pair of fingers in correspondence with the number. "Don't be fooled."

With that out of the way, Heiji departed from the house, yawning loudly in a way that indicated he'd been disturbed from his slumber that night. As usual, what he had said made very little sense to Heizo at the time- but he imagined, in due time, the reason behind the statement would reveal itself.

Hattori Heizo did not believe in the power of prophecy- but he did wish that whatever the source was behind his son's often spot-on assessment of future disasters would apply to Heiji himself as well. There had been far too many close calls.  
____________________________________________________________________

"Oi, Kudo, over here!" Heiji's bright grin practically lit up the area around him, waving as he spotted his guests. Either he didn't notice or chose to completely ignore the dirty look that Conan shot towards him for using his real name, having gotten so used to it at this point that it barely sent a bolt of panic through him anymore.

"Geez, Hattori-kun." Ran made a small face. Even she'd gotten used to it at this point, and had apparently ceased to read into it any further. Perhaps it was in part due to getting to know Heiji better- as brilliant as a detective he could be, there were any number of things he was rather dense about. "Given how close you two are, you'd think you'd manage to call Conan-kun by his actual name by this point."

"Ah, sorry, sorry." Quickly apologizing for his flub, Heiji rubbed the back of his head, giving the girl an awkward laugh. "Ya know, he just looks so much like a tiny Kudo, that I just say it without thinkin'. I've always been bad about that sort of thing. Anyways, I'm glad ya both made it safe an' sound. I hope ya didn't run into any troubles?"

"No, nothing like that." Shaking her head, Ran smiled at him. "By the way, where's Kazuha-chan?" She asked, looking around. "Did she not come to the station with you?"

"Ah, she wanted to, but she had mornin' practice that she couldn't skip out on." Heiji told her. "She'll be joinin' us when she's done though, so don't worry, Neechan."

"Kazuha-neechan's hard at work even over summer vacation." Conan couldn't help but note. "Does she had a tournament or something coming up?"

"Yeah, once the break is over." Heiji nodded his head, tucking his hands inside of his pockets. "She says that she doesn't want her skills ta get stiff over summer break, so she's been workin' harder than ever. The two of ya should come see her next tournament! I'm pretty sure she'd like that."

"I'll keep that in mind, Hattori-kun." Ran said. "Thanks for inviting us over, by the way. Is there a particular occasion?"

"Nah, I was just thinkin' that I impose on the two of ya more than enough, so I should probably return the favor once in awhile. Ya both are fine stayin' at my place, right?" Heiji asked, glancing down at Conan. "Ya wanna stay in my room, kid?"

"I do!" Conan piped up, a bright smile flashing on his face. Staying in Heiji's room would give him ample time in which to snoop around in it, after all. "I want to stay with Heiji-niichan, Ran-neechan!"

"If that's fine with him, it's fine with me." Ran said simply, a fond smile crossing her face as she was once again reminded about how close the two were. She had been a little surprised when Heiji had left the other day without so much as a word of goodbye, and judging from Conan's reaction when she'd brought it up, she had been under the impression that the two of them might be fighting. But it seemed that wasn't the case, and she was glad.

"Then, let's not waste any more time around here then!" Flashing them a broad smile, Heiji looked almost eager to get things started with them. "I found a really great place fer lunch that I think the two of ya will like! We'll go after Kazuha comes back from her mornin' practice!"

"Is it _another_ okonomiyaki place?" Conan asked, unable to keep the dry tone out of his voice.

"What's wrong with that?" A look of mock hurt crossed the detective of the west's face, before he quickly laughed it off. "But ya caught me, Ku- no, Conan-kun. It's a great place though, I'm sure you'll be a huge fan!"

Conversation was rather casual as they made their way towards the Hattori household. As always, the scale of it always gave Conan a pause- he always sort of forgot that Heiji's house was pretty large, all things considered. He'd heard it had been passed down throughout the Hattori family, and honestly, he didn't doubt it. It had 'ancestral mansion' written all over it.

"Ah, Heiji, are the guests here?" Shizuka made her way towards the front hall as she heard the sound of the front door opening, a graceful smile on her face as she spotted Ran and Conan. "Welcome, the two of you! Please come in and make yourselves at home."

"It's nice to see you again, Hattori-san." Bowing politely to the woman, Ran smiled up at her. "Thanks for having us. I hope it's not any trouble."

"It's not trouble at all." Shizuka was quick to reassure her. "From the sound of it, my son imposes on you quite a bit himself, so consider this place your home away from home while you're here. Of course, you as well, Conan-kun."

"I will!" Ignoring the mischievous leer he got from Heiji as he did his best cute child act, Conan carefully took off his shoes, setting them down in the entrance. "Heiji-niichan, let's go to your room, come on!" Reaching up to take his hand, Heiji stumbled a little, almost half not expecting it.

"Oh, sure thing, kid!" Heiji said, flashing a grin back towards the two women. "Then, I'll be with the kid fer awhile. Neechan, ya can talk with my mom if ya want. See ya!" Giving them a slight wave with his free hand, he all but let Conan drag him along towards his own room. It wasn't until they got inside that Conan finally dropped his act and his hand alike, turning on his heel to look up towards the ( _unfortunately_ ) taller boy.

"So?" Conan asked, setting down his bag in one corner of the room. "I take it that you inviting me all the way out here is some kind of challenge?"

"So cold, Kudo." A mock expression of disappointment crossed Heiji's face, before he knelt down in front of him, playfully ruffling his hair. "What do ya think? Can't I just invite my good buddy ta Osaka because I want ta make up with him?"

"You're Hattori, so no." Conan said frankly, quirking a brow. "Perhaps you can start by telling me why you lied to me about not being at the Kid heist, if you really want to make up with me."

From the way Heiji flinched, Conan knew he'd hit the bullseye. He hadn't wanted to question Heiji then, over the phone, but seeing him in person was another story entirely- he'd had some time to mentally prepare himself after all.

"Don't try and weasel your way out of it either. You were caught on tape. You're just lucky Inspector Nakamori has never met you." Conan said simply, arching a brow. "I know you have no interest at all in Kid, so I doubt you went out all that way just to see one of his heists. There's no way you didn't see me there either, so it's obvious you were deliberately trying to hide from me."

"Well, that's..." Heiji trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I thought that was why ya called me the other day. That's right, I was there." Standing back up, Heiji tucked his hands in his pockets. "I was meetin' up with someone, an' figured I'd hang around to watch ya do yer Kid Killer thing. I kind of thought if I popped up then in front of ya, ya might suspect me of being Kid in disguise, so..."

It was a reasonable sounding explanation, but something about it didn't sit right with him. Sensing he would get anywhere further with this method of approach, Conan switched directions. "Was it by any chance to meet with Koizumi Akako?"

The reaction that earned from Heiji alone was definitely more than worth it, Conan thought to himself, watching as a rather impressive combination of shock and annoyance crossed his face. "How do ya-" He began at first, before cutting himself off, grumbling as he placed a hand over his face, heaving an irritated sigh. Really, he should have expected this much since they had been in the same place.

That damn witch- if she'd told Kudo anything weird, he swore he would-!

"So? What kind of relationship do you have with Koizumi-san?" Conan asked. "If Kazuha-san knew you were hanging around with another girl..."

"Idiot, it's not like that!" Heiji snapped, almost recoiling at the mere _notion_ that he and that witch might be in that kind of relationship. "She's just... an acquaintance of mine I'd rather not be acquainted with, that's all."

Well, he wasn't lying at the very least, Conan noted. Apparently his relationship with this Koizumi Akako wasn't the best. "But you still came all the way to Tokyo just to meet with her?"

Opening and shutting his mouth, realizing that he'd been caught out in his lie, Heiji grumbled, scratching the back of his head. As much as he challenged him to figure things out, the last thing he wanted was for that witch to pry her claws into him- Conan had enough problems as it was already. "Look, let's just say my relationship with Koizumi is complicated an' leave it at that. She's not really the kind of girl ya should be messin' with either, Kudo, take my word fer it."

"That's unusually cryptic for you, Hattori." Conan couldn't help but note.

"Shut up." Grumbling, Heiji took a seat on his bed. "Just take my word fer it, Kudo. Koizumi's bad news."

"She doesn't seem all that bad to me." Conan said with a slight frown, finding himself casting a glance around Heiji's room, as if searching for anything out of the ordinary. "By the way, Hattori, speaking of the Kid heist, did you hear the news about it?"

"Of course I did." Although he did his best to mask it, Conan didn't miss the vague hint of a smile that crept it's way onto his friend's face. "I guess that old man Suzuki is pullin' his hair out about the loss of his treasure, right?"

"That's one way to put it." Conan said lightly. "When he went back to the art dealer who sold it to him in the first place, he found the place had been trashed by someone. All of the similar eggs that they sold have been stolen as well. It's strange though. It's like the eggs just vanished from their homes without a trace. There weren't even the slightest signs that anyone had broken in."

"Is that so?" Letting out a small yawn, Heiji rose to his feet, scratching the back of his head. He wasn't surprised he'd heard about it, given the fact that he and Ran were apparently childhood friends with that rich old man's niece, but the less time they spent discussing it, the better for him. "No offense, Kudo, but I'm not really a theft kinda guy. 'Sides, it's about time fer Kazuha ta come join up with us. Ya must be gettin' a little hungry by now, right?"

As his own stomach let out a faint grumble, Conan could feel a red color rise to his cheeks, Heiji's leering expression not really helping matters much. "S-so it seems." He stammered, averting his gaze from him. "But just you watch, Hattori. Whatever you're hiding from me, I'll uncover the truth sooner than you think."

"Oh, I'm lookin' forward ta that, Kudo." As Heiji flashed him one of his usual carefree grins, Conan couldn't help but feel as if he'd really meant it. It struck him as a little odd, he thought- quite honestly, he couldn't really manage to get a good grip on whether or not Heiji actually _wanted_ him to learn his secret.

Just as Haibara had thought, perhaps it was rather complicated.  
____________________________________________________________

"Hey, Kazuha-neechan," Conan piped up, an innocent smile spread across his face that Heiji somehow got a bad feeling from. "Since when has Heiji-niichan thought that the bad things he sees in his dreams would come true?"

Conan almost wished he'd thought to get Heiji's reaction on tape- watching him spit out his drink was priceless. The ensuing reaction he got from Kazuha, on the other hand, wasn't something that he had expected at all.

"What-" Kazuha began, her chopsticks almost falling from her hands as her expression quickly shifted from shock to anger. She certainly seemed to understand what Conan had meant at any rate, but the last thing he'd expected was for her to get angry over the question- the sheer force of it almost had him reeling back. " _I knew it!_ You've still been having them all along, haven't you Heiji?! And here you are pretending that ya made 'em up when you were a kid!"

"W-wait a second, Kazuha," Heiji held up his hands, letting out a nervous laugh, before shooting a dirty look towards Conan. "T-that's not the case at all."

"The bad things he sees in his dreams?" Ran asked with a slight frown, turning her gaze towards Heiji. "Then, the other day when you came to the detective agency because you said you had a nightmare about Conan-kun..."

" _See!_ " Kazuha pointed at Ran, and for a moment, those gathered at the table swore they could almost see flames of anger spark around her. "You'll tell Conan-kun about 'em, but not me? I can't believe you, Heiji!"

"Like I said, calm down, Kazuha. We're in public after all." All but wanting to fall into a hole and disappear, he instead resorted to shooting Conan yet another dirty look. To think that he would ask Kazuha of all people such a thing- and when there were other people around at that!

"Fine." Kazuha said finally, narrowing her eyes as she sat back down. "So, Ran-chan," she asked, turning to face her friend. "Did he really say that he had a nightmare about Conan-kun? No wonder he ran off to Tokyo in such a hurry the other day."

"Well, it was actually Conan-kun who told me." Ran gave her a small smile, hoping to ease over her friend's temper a little. "But what do you mean? I thought for sure Hattori-kun had just been worried because it was a bad dream. Is there something I'm missing here, Kazuha-chan?"

"It's really nothin', Neechan, it's just-" Heiji tried to speak up, but Kazuha quickly shot him a dirty look, silently telling him that the two of them would be talking about this later.

"Ever since he was a little kid, Heiji's always had weird dreams." Kazuha answered for him, locking eyes with him for a moment longer before she pulled her gaze away. "He would have nightmares about this or that, and then he'd be convinced that they would actually happen. Well," Closing her eyes, a slightly somber expression crossed her face for the span of a moment. "They always turned out to be true."

"That's incredible, Hattori-kun!" Ran exclaimed, her eyes going wide.

"It's really not." Heiji grumbled, apparently choosing not to actively deny it anymore, probably not wanting to risk making Kazuha any angrier. Half glowering at Conan, the shrunken detective sheepishly scooted slightly away from him, wondering if he might have overstepped his boundaries there more than a little.

It had honestly been a question he'd just asked on a whim. He'd really only wanted to know more about why Heiji seemed to be so convinced his so-called prophetic dreams were really the real deal, having a niggling feeling that this was a piece of the puzzle. He hadn't exactly expected for there to turn out to be some kind of long history of them, and he certainly hadn't expected him to be concealing the fact from Kazuha- recently, at the very least, from the sounds of it. He'd always sort of thought that Heiji and Kazuha knew everything about each other, save for their romantic feelings for the other.

"It really is incredible, isn't it?" Kazuha asked, a small smile forming on her lips as she looked over towards Ran. "Because of them, my dad managed to escape death while on the job a few times. His parents as well." Her smile faltered a little, and as she averted her gaze from those gathered around the booth, Conan couldn't help but catch a somewhat sorrowful hint in her gaze. "Me too."

The sorrowful look gone almost as quick as it came, Kazuha merely shrugged her shoulders, shooting her childhood friend a dry look. "Well, these days he's totally turned into mister skeptic. But back when he was a kid, Heiji was always the one runnin' around actin' like he could see-"

_"Kazuha."_

For once Heiji hadn't raised his voice, but the serious tone in his voice alone had been enough to cut her off. As the two of them shared a look between them, Heiji let out a sigh, closing his eyes. "Can we please not talk about that?"

"Ah, sorry." Kazuha blinked, an apologetic look crossing her face as if she realized she had struck a nerve that she shouldn't have. "Sorry, Ran-chan, Conan-kun. I kind of forget that this kind of talk makes Heiji uncomfortable. It's been awhile since anyone brought it up, so..." She trailed off a little, sheepishly twirling her ribbon. "Can we just forget it?"

"That's fine, Kazuha-chan." Ran nodded her head, giving her friend an understanding smile- one that she quickly directed towards Heiji as well. "And sorry, Hattori-kun. I get the feeling we brought up something we shouldn't have. Conan-kun, you apologize as well."

"Eh?" Blinking a little, Conan turned towards Heiji with a frown, unable to help but feel his gut twist at the unusually distant look on the Osakan's face. There was clearly something there, something buried in his past- and Kazuha's as well, judging from the way she had reacted. And whatever it was, it seemed like it was something of a delicate subject for the both of them. "Y-yeah. I'm sorry, Heiji-niichan."

Finally flashing him a small smile, Heiji reached out to ruffle his hair, and for once, Conan decided not to protest. It was something in the way that even though he was smiling, there was still an echo of sadness etched into his eyes. "It's okay. Don't worry 'bout it."

Very quickly, Conan decided that he didn't like seeing this type of expression on his friend's face. And yet at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder what the source of it was. Was it related to whatever it was that Heiji was hiding from him? If that were the case, why would he have challenged him in the first place to find out the truth on his own?

Maybe it was just something he couldn't easily say. Perhaps he did want to let Conan in on whatever secret he was keeping, but didn't know how to bring up the topic- or perhaps whatever it was that caused that expression on his face to surface had only been a drop in the bucket of what he was concealing.

Either way, Conan decided, he'd be a little more sensitive with his questions.  
______________________________________________________________

Thankfully the mood had managed to lift after that ill-fated conversation, in no small part thanks to Heiji himself. He'd returned so quickly to the bright and chipper Osakan he always was, so fast that it almost gave Conan whiplash, in fact. Before long, he'd found himself dragged around Osaka alongside Ran by the likes of Heiji and Kazuha, who had apparently decided to put whatever small feud that earlier conversation had brought up between them on hold for the sake of their guests.

They had been having such a good time that Conan almost forgot the earlier mood for a moment- at least until he accidentally stumbled onto a conversation between the two childhood friends that he _probably_ wasn't meant to hear. It was late in the afternoon, and the heat had started to get to just about everyone in the group. Wisely, they had decided to take a break in a cafe, Ran and Conan relaxing in the cool air within the shop. He'd barely actually heard the excuse that Heiji had made for leaving the cafe, but when Kazuha left not even a minute later, he couldn't help but think that something was strange.

Growing a bit worried, he made an excuse to Ran himself- going to the bathroom, always a classic. Carefully sneaking outside of the cafe just outside of Ran's line of vision, he looked around, trying to find where those two had gone off to. Inwardly cringing, he hoped that he hadn't accidentally done something to drive a wedge between the pair- especially when they were both so close to finally admitting that they had feelings to each other. He'd never forgive himself if that were the case.

"Is it really true, Heiji?" He finally heard Kazuha's voice speak up, just faintly within his range of hearing. Moving closer, he noticed that the pair had moved to the alley next to the cafe, a strangely serious mood between the two of them. "Have you really still been having those nightmares all this time? Why didn't ya say anything to me?"

There was still a hint of the anger from before in her voice- but there was also concern, Conan noted, his eyes narrowing slightly at it.

Heiji was silent for a long moment, before he heaved a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "...I just didn't want ya ta worry, fer the most part. There's some other stuff ta it too, but... ya know. After what happened back then, an' those rumors that spread... I was just kinda sick of it."

"Those rumors weren't-!"

"I know, I know that much, Kazuha." Heiji was quick to reassure her, flashing a grin as he patted her on the shoulder. "They weren't true. But after that, I decided that I would at least _try_ an' pretend that I was a normal person, that I couldn't-" He trailed off then, his words dying off in his throat, as if he couldn't say the rest himself. "That's why I decided ta go to a middle school that the rest of the kids from our elementary school didn't go ta. I thought if I started actin' more open around other people, things might get better. I wanted ta go somewhere where nobody had heard the rumors about me. Well," his smile grew as he continued, considerably more genuine than before. "I didn't really expect ya ta come along with me. I can't say that I hated it though."

"Well of course I came along with you!" Kazuha insisted. "After we got split up in sixth grade, nothing good happened to you! I was so worried about you back then, Heiji. People were saying awful things- even the teachers! Even though it wasn't your fault at all, they still said those cruel things, where ya could hear 'em too. And then ya- and then ya..." Grasping the fabric of her shirt, Kazuha balled her hands into fists, a new wave of frustration rising within her even after all this time. "But that didn't mean ya had to hide it from me as well! I never thought ya were strange, even once, Heiji!"

"That was just..." Heiji gave her a small laugh. "I thought it would be easier if ya believed it as well, so without thinkin' about I tried ta act normal in front of ya as well. I probably should apologize for that, Kazuha. It wasn't like I was tryin' ta keep anythin' from ya ta hurt ya, and it's not like I didn't trust ya, or ever thought that you thought of me as somethin' strange... it just sort of happened." 

There was a silence between the pair then, before Heiji seemed to realize something. "Ah, but if yer thinkin' it's as heavy a weight on me as it was back then, I promise ya that's not the case. I mean... the things from _that event_ still weigh pretty heavy on me, though that ain't a secret from ya, but not ya know... the stuff. The _weird_ stuff."

"Is it because ya found the answers you were lookin' for? An' I never really thought ya were weird, Heiji." Kazuha added, almost as an afterthought as she loosened her grip on her shirt, shoulders relaxing somewhat at this information, looking up towards Heiji. "Back then, when you disappeared, you were able to find some kind of answer, weren't ya?"

"Mmm." Frowning a little, Heiji rubbed the back of his neck, giving her an awkward laugh. "I guess that's one way of puttin' it. It's easier when ya know what everything's about, I guess."

"Are ya gonna tell me about it, Heiji?" Kazuha asked.

"Eventually." Heiji promised her, his grin resurfacing on his face. "But well, not in the middle of an alley, at least. S'not really the right time or place. When I tell ya about it, I've got someplace real special I'll take ya."

Kazuha snorted a little in spite of herself, giving him a small smile of her own. "Now that you mention it, we are standing right next to a dumpster." She said, casting a glance back towards the object in question. "An' now that I've noticed that, it's also all I can think about. Why'd ya call me out next to a dumpster in the first place, _idiot_?"

"How did you miss the dumpster in the first place, _idiot_." Heiji shot back. "Ah, but we probably also shouldn't keep Ku-Ku- Conan-kun and Neechan waiting fer much longer, or they'll start wonderin' where we've run off to."

Sensing that as his cue to hurry back inside, Conan quickly slipped back into the cafe, actually heading to the bathroom this time. When he came back out a minute later, Heiji and Kazuha had already returned to the table, acting as if nothing had happened. He couldn't help but notice that the pair of them both visibly looked more at ease than they had been before, as if they had both gotten something important off their chests. Still, even as Conan sat back down in his seat, acting as if he hadn't overheard anything himself, he couldn't forget what he'd just heard. He almost wasn't sure where to begin.

_Back then, when you disappeared._

Probably from there, Conan thought to himself, trying not to look like he was thinking hard- there was no doubt Heiji would catch such a look from him, and he didn't want to admit that he'd been eavesdropping on him.

What had Kazuha meant by that? Had there been a time when Heiji had disappeared? A time when he'd been kidnapped, or otherwise gone missing were what naturally came to mind. It was possible that someone had targeted him because of his father. But the part about finding answers didn't make much sense to him, if that were the case. Something was off.

At the very least, if something like that had really happened, there was bound to be information about it somewhere. He'd look for it himself- if he scoured old Osakan newspapers, he was bound to eventually find a hit. From the context of their conversation, he could at least guess that it must have happened in sixth grade, so he could narrow down his search to around then.

But what about the other things they had talked about? Rumors? Some kind of event? And what was that 'normal person' business about? Heiji could be a little bit odd sometimes, but he didn't think that qualified him as being somehow 'abnormal'.

Was it possibly really true that he was capable of somehow seeing the future in his dreams? Were prophetic dreams _really_ possible? From the way that Heiji and Kazuha alike had spoken of them, at the very least, they seemed to believe it was the truth- and Conan couldn't help but feel a little bit more inclined to lean his stance towards that direction than before. Certainly, if one had such an ability, they would be considered 'abnormal', but somehow he felt like that didn't explain everything.

But he felt as if he accepted the possibility that it was really true that Heiji could see pieces of the future in his dreams, he would come a little closer to unlocking the mystery as a whole. In spite of his best efforts to keep one off his face, a small frown graced his features, this thought striking within him a confirmation of something he'd been suspecting ever since Ai had first brought it up to him.

_Perhaps it's necessary that you find out the truth yourself._

And even earlier than that, written on a scrap of paper that he'd all but dismissed out of hand at the time.

_Be careful of clinging too closely to previously held beliefs._

If this really was the case- if this really was true... then it was possible that Heiji's secret was heading in a direction that was almost unimaginable to him. A natural born skeptic, Conan almost laughed at the notion- but even so, Holmes had said it, hadn't he? That one quote of his that he loved more than any other.

Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.  
_____________________________________________________________________

"Is Hattori-kun feeling better?" Ran asked, pulling her gaze away from where Heiji and Conan were busy trying to figure out the best way to challenge a crane game, after the pair of girls had both expressed desire for something contained within. "I noticed that he seemed to be feeling a little down before we went to that cafe."

"You really noticed something like that, Ran-chan?" Kazuha blinked, more than a little surprised. "Yeah, he's feeling better."

"And what about you, Kazuha-chan?" Ran asked. "Are you feeling better?"

"So you noticed that too." Kazuha said with a small laugh. "Yes, I'm feeling better. Heiji an' I were able to briefly work some things out between us."

"I see." Nodding her head, Ran smiled at that- an expression which lasted only briefly before she looked back towards Kazuha, a slight hint of concern in her expression. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, Kazuha-chan, did something happen to you and Hattori-kun in the past? When you talking earlier, I couldn't help but get that feeling."

"Eh?" Clearly caught off guard by the question, Kazuha briefly tensed up- before she relaxed, letting out the breath she hadn't quite realized she'd held. Glancing down at the pavement in front of her, she shifted her feet a little, watching the way her toes moved within her sandals. "You could say that. A lot of things, really. More to Heiji than me."

"I see." Ran said, turning her gaze back towards Heiji, watching as he glowered at the crane game in frustration as his prize escaped him once again. "Um, do you want to talk about it any? It's fine if you don't want to! I know the two of us haven't really known each other all that long, but..."

"What are you talking about, Ran-chan?" Kazuha asked, her face lighting up with a smile. "We might have not known each other long, but that doesn't mean we're not best friends already. Especially after everything we've been through together, being dragged along on cases with Heiji." She laughed a little, closing her eyes. "It's just... it's probably a little hard to believe when you look at him now, but Heiji hasn't always been this way. When he was a child, he was more..."

Opening her eyes and looking towards the sky, bright blue without so much as a single cloud, Kazuha took in a deep breath, letting it out as she looked back down again. "When you were in elementary school, did your class ever have a weird kid in it? Ya know, they type that everyone, even the adults, though was kinda creepy, who people avoided and said bad things about?"

"In elementary school, that was actually Heiji." Kazuha confessed to her, watching as a surprised expression crossed Ran's face. "Right? It's hard to believe now, especially with the way he's always talking about how things like monsters and curses and ghosts don't exist, but he didn't start acting that way until middle school. But because of that, when he was little, he got a lot of grief from our classmates, teachers, even his neighbors... it was really pretty rough."

"I see." Ran said, turning back towards Heiji with a frown. "It's kind of hard to picture."

"Right?" Kazuha couldn't help but smile a little, especially as she watched Heiji light up as he finally obtained his prize, shooting a triumphant look over towards Conan, who was still struggling to get the bear that Ran had wanted. "Outside of me an' his family, he really didn't open up to anyone like he does now. It used ta be that that great smile of his was reserved just fer me. Well," her smile grew all the fonder as she spoke. "I think it's better this way. People are finally seeing Heiji the same way I've always seen him, an' he's a lot happier too."

"Oh, you make it sound like you've been in love with him from the very start, Kazuha-chan." Ran couldn't help but note, watching the way her face turned bright red.

"T-that's not-!"

"Is somethin' wrong, Kazuha?" Heiji asked, completely unwitting as to the mood between the two girls. "You're awfully red." He observed, reaching out a hand to feel her forehead. She only managed to turn even redder at his touch, causing Heiji to frown a little. "You don't have a fever, but..."

"I-I'm fine!" Kazuha stammered, instead reaching out to take the stuffed unicorn that Heiji had managed to win for her. "Don't worry about it, idiot!"

" _You're welcome_ , idiot." Heiji shot back, grumbling underneath his breath about not even getting a thank you for spending so much on a stupid rigged crane game.

Any possible response that Kazuha could have was cut off by the sound of a scream- one that instantly caught the attention of Heiji and Conan alike. Abandoning the crane game, Conan took off, shortly followed by Heiji. After exchanging a brief, more than a little annoyed glance, Kazuha and Ran hurried behind them.

By the time Heiji and Conan arrived on the scene, there was already a sizable crowd gathered. Pushing their way through, they quickly found the source of the scream- a middle school girl, covering her mouth and sobbing. From the way blood trickled down between her fingers, and the way she struggled to speak, it was easy to tell that something was very wrong.

"What happened?" Heiji asked, kneeling down beside her, carefully placing a hand on her shoulder. In the background, Conan could be heard asking if anyone had called the police or an ambulance yet, and with a frustrated, unchildlike grumble upon learning that nobody had, told Kazuha and Ran to do just that as soon as they joined them.

Dropping her hands from her mouth, it quickly became very apparent that the reason she was having difficulty speaking wasn't simply because she was crying. The source of the blood quickly became clear, dripping from two very fresh cut marks, each digging deep into her cheeks, creating a macabre appearance of a permanent smile. Even through her tears, and even with her disfigured mouth, she managed to choke out a pair of words.

"Ku- Kuchisake-onna."


	6. The Future is What You Make It, Unless No One Listens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When a request to speak to him comes from one of the victims of the supposed Kucihisake-onna causes a reaction in Heiji that Conan doesn't like, he finds himself frustratingly shut out from the conversation- but in the process, he unlocks the truth behind one of the things his friend is keeping hidden.

When Heizo arrived at the scene, he somehow wasn't all that surprised to find his son in the thick of things. And judging from the look of him, his son wasn't all that surprised to see him there either.

"Let me guess." Heiji skipped to the chase the moment he spotted his father. If someone as high up in the food chain as his father was here personally, it could only mean one thing. "This isn't the only one?"

"That would be correct." Heizo affirmed. "This report would make the fifth one. I see the victim has already been transported to a hospital." The only traces of the victim left behind now were the drops of blood that she had left behind from her mutilated mouth, a grim reminder of a terrible attack. "In each case, the target has usually been a young girl, ranging from late elementary school to high school, at the very latest."

"Let me guess. They all said something about the Kuchisake-onna as well." An irritated expression crossed Heiji's face as he folded his arms in front of him, brows knitting together. Just his luck to run into another one of these cases while Kudo was still around, he thought, briefly casting his eyes towards the shrunken detective, who had already swung completely into case solving mode.

Kazuha and Ran, perhaps quite predictably, hadn't taken to the words the victim had mumbled very well. If it had just been Kazuha on her own, it wouldn't have been so bad, he thought- but Ran was here too, which meant that Ran and Kazuha's fears would constantly be looping off the other's. Well, the burnt of the blame for Kazuha's fear of the supernatural rested squarely with himself, so he supposed that in a way, this was more or less his own fault.

"Indeed they did." Heizo noted dryly. He had already long since made up his mind that the culprit behind the attacks was nothing more than a human- the Kuchisake-onna was nothing but an urban legend. What the exact motive of the culprit was difficult to say- perhaps they had chosen to don the legend of the Kuchisake-onna in order to simply create a panic, or perhaps there was a more complicated, more personal reason behind it. Luckily, nobody had been killed as of yet- but that didn't change the fact that five innocent girls had been brutally attacked.

The scars that their attacks left behind would doubtlessly haunt them for the rest of their lives. It would take quite the skilled surgeon to completely fix them. It was an awfully cruel thing to do, and it made Heizo's blood boil, as calm and collected as he appeared to be on the outside.

His son, of course, was a different story.

Swearing underneath his breath, a look of intense frustration came across Heiji's face. At this point he couldn't say if this was just a human culprit acting out an urban legend for whatever reason, or the real thing. From what they had managed to get from the crying girl, she had been heading home after buying some things at the supermarket, when she had been approached by a woman in a red coat wearing a surgical mask. Although a small crowd had gathered by now, the back street had been mostly deserted by then, even in the late afternoon, so there had been nobody around to see her.

The urban legend in question was something that Heiji knew well- there had been a scare about it back when he was still in middle school that had turned out to be nothing. Kazuha had adamantly refused to go anywhere on her own during that time frame, he recalled, casting a glance over towards her. The girl in question seemed a little bit calmer now, but he couldn't help but notice the tight way she grasped that unicorn plushie he'd won for her. No doubt she was remembering that time as well.

There was no real correct answer to the Kuchisake-onna's questions- in order to escape her, one had to distract her, either with candy, or by politely informing her that you had another appointment. Anything other than that, and they would either be killed, or end up with the same fate as the girl from before. Judging from his father's behavior, he didn't think there had been any actual deaths yet, at the very least. He didn't know if this meant that the culprit was a human who simply didn't have the physical ability to cut someone in half with a knife, or if it meant that nobody had answered the Kuchisake-onna in such a way to get themselves killed.

But what had prompted the sudden appearance of the one known as the slit-mouthed woman, if it _was_ the real thing? There was usually some kind of trigger for things like this, they didn't just happen out of the blue. Even if he dealt with the Kuchisake-onna himself, if he didn't get to the root of things, she would only return- provided something else that was even worse didn't come out instead.

"Old man, can ya give me the details of the other attacks?" Heiji asked, hoping that his father was in the mood to share his information with him. It was always hit and miss with him, and Heiji couldn't always read which mood he was in. He'd always been bad at that.

Heizo paused, gaze lingering on his son's face long enough for Heiji to start to worry that the answer would be a no- before he finally spoke again. "The first attack was on a second year high school student, in the early hours of the morning. She was heading to morning practice when she was assaulted by someone she described as a woman with a surgical mask and red clothes."

"The second victim was a third year high school student, who had been heading out to get some breakfast that morning. The third was a sixth year elementary school student, who had been walking her dog. The fourth was a first year middle school student, who was returning home from the library." Heizo recalled. "The fifth, as you know, was a third year middle school student who had been out shopping. All of them occurred within the span of today, with the first attack being at seven in the morning." He said, gaze shifting towards the small drops of blood that had been left behind.

"An' all of them met a woman wearin' a surgical mask an' red clothes, huh?" Heiji asked, brows knitting together in thought. There were other questions that he wanted to ask- namely how the woman had behaved before attacking the victims, and what answers they had given her, but with his old man being the one here, there was no way he could ask something like that. He knew full well that he thought anything supernatural was a load of rubbish- it was a small miracle that he even managed to get his father to listen to his warnings, really.

Given what kind of child he'd been raising all of these years, Heiji honestly couldn't help but find what a staunch skeptic his father was as a _little_ hilarious.

Come to think of that, though... He frowned a little, recalling the dream he'd had this morning. Something about a culprit having an extra knife, and his father having been the one to suffer for it. Could that perhaps be related to this case? But from the way it had been in his dream, somehow it didn't seem as if the culprit behind the case would have been a genuine Kuchisake-onna, if that were true.

Either way, something about this case felt strange. For a real Kuchisake-onna, five victims in one day was a bit _too_ quick, all the more so if she was attacking in broad daylight. That usually wasn't how this sort of thing worked.

"Were all the victims cut in the same way?" It was Conan who spoke up, and Heiji jolted a little, having half been so absorbed in his own thoughts, that he'd very nearly forgotten his friend was even there. Watching as the not-child mimicked the way that the girl's mouth had been cut with his hands, he turned back towards Heizo, waiting for an answer.

"The method has always been the same, but there have been some slight differences between the attacks." Heizo told him, only slightly inclining his brows at the very unchildlike question. He'd had plenty of occasions to be familiar with decidedly unchildlike behavior coming from children in the past, he thought, his gaze briefly flickering over towards his own son. "The first and second victims each had cuts that were both longer and deeper than the ensuing ones. Both were cut nearly from ear to ear."

"Have there been any witnesses?" Heiji asked. He'd asked around in the crowd of people that had gathered, but it didn't appear that anyone among them had actually witnessed the attack, and had only arrived after the victim had screamed. Nobody had seen anyone fleeing from the scene of the crime either.

"No, none." Heizo shook his head, a grim look on his face. Already he could hear some low mumbling amongst the crowd- rumors of the attacks were already starting to spread. It would most likely be in his best interest to return to headquarters soon so that he could make an official statement about it- the last thing he wanted was for Osaka to descend into a panic because of some kind of imaginary creature.

"That's what I figured." Grumbling a little, Heiji rubbed the back of his head, glancing back down towards Conan. Kneeling down next to him, he dropped his voice somewhat so only the pint sized detective in question could hear him. "What do ya think, Kudo?"

"It's hard to say at the moment. There's simply not enough to go on yet, Hattori." Glancing over towards him, Conan let his frustration show on his face. "It would be different if the victims had something concrete linking them, but from the sound of it, the only thing the victims had in common is that they're all young girls. That's not _enough._ "

"It could random attacks." Heiji mused. "But even that sort of thing has some kinda basic motive behind it."

"There's probably some sort of meaning to the culprit choosing to use the Kuchisake-onna as their method of attack as well." Conan mused. "Maybe something happened to their own face? A botched surgery or an accident of some kind? They might be acting out the legend as some form of misplaced revenge."

"It's possible." Nodding his head, Heiji decided for the moment to treat this investigation like any other- until he got information suggesting otherwise, that was. It was hardly the first time that what had seemed like the work of a supernatural creature on the surface had turned out to be fake- he even ran into a fair share of those on his own _without_ Conan around. Hell, it was with those sorts of cases that he had begun to build up a reputation as a detective in the first case, ironically enough. It hadn't actually quite been his goal at the time, but he couldn't say that he hated the end result. "They might just be tryin' ta incite a panic as well. Or a combination of both."

"Either way, we're probably dealing with someone quite dangerous here." With a frown, Conan glanced back towards Ran and Kazuha. No doubt that they could defend themselves underneath normal circumstances- but if they were confronted with someone who acted like a monster from an urban legend, it was difficult to say how things might go. He couldn't help but be a little concerned.

"Yeah, that much is probably true." Following Conan's gaze, he noticed that he was looking at the girls, and frowned a little. He was worried about them as well- all the more so if this turned out to be the real thing. Maybe he should remind Kazuha how the legend worked at some point. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of his father's subordinates run up to him, a phone in hand, and after exchanging a few brief words with him, Heizo turned back towards his son.

"It appears that the first victim has finally woken up." Heizo told him, an unreadable expression on his face. It was the kind of look that he got whenever there was something he wasn't saying. "She wants to speak with you, Heiji."

"Me?" Heiji blinked, pointing to himself in mild confusion, having not quite predicted this turn of events. "Was the victim someone from my school?" He asked, straightening back up. He certainly didn't mind one of the victims asking personally for him- it actually made things all the easier for him. Still, it was a bit strange for one to do so, especially when they had no reason at all to know that he was involved in the case. If it had been the fifth victim, it wouldn't have been that odd, but...

"Not someone from your high school." Heizo said, a tight frown on his face. He'd recognized the name, after all. "Your elementary school."

Conan couldn't help but notice the way Heiji stiffened, his breath seeming to catch in his throat. He also watched as he seemed to steel himself, giving his father a sharp nod. "I'll talk ta her."  
______________________________________________________________________

"Kudo. Ya can't come with me."

With those words, Heiji had effectively shut Conan out of the investigation- at the very least, the portion of it that involved speaking to the first victim. He'd protested tremendously of course, even as Ran and Kazuha walked him back to the Hattori household, each of them holding one of his hands to make sure he couldn't slip away. Kazuha's grip on Conan's hand, he couldn't help but notice was quite a bit tighter than Ran's, but he didn't think it was because she was afraid of the Kuchisake-onna.

For once, it wasn't the case slipping away from him that Conan was worried about, although that did bother him. But rather, his main concern was Heiji himself. He had tried to mask it underneath one of his usual broad grins, but it didn't fool him one bit- there was something to his expression that was downright unsettling, far too distant for the outgoing and friendly Osakan that he had come to know.

Even if he wanted to chase after Heiji, he didn't know where he had gone. He hadn't gotten the name of the hospital, and he doubted that any of the officers would tell him. Part of him still couldn't believe that Heiji had shut him out like this. He was _certain_ that he probably had a good reason for it, but nevertheless, it was more than a little frustrating. All he could do for the moment was look up the articles of the other attacks online- and wait.

"Are you worried about him?"

Shizuka's voice drew Conan's attention up towards her- he'd been so lost in his own thoughts that he'd barely noticed the woman enter the room. Slowly nodding his head, he watched as she gave him a small smile, leaning down to ruffle his hair. "I'm sure Heiji will be fine. You're such a good friend to him, Conan-kun. I must thank you for that."

"I really like Heiji-niichan!" Conan told her, a bright smile on his face. It was the truth, after all. He valued Heiji deeply as not only a trusted ally, but as a close friend. "Hey, auntie, do you have any pictures of him from when he was my age?"

Since Heiji had shut him out of this leg of the investigation, he might as well continue on his own- the one that had brought him to Osaka in the first place. He'd never seen childhood pictures of Heiji before, come to think of it. It was a time in which he'd never known him- they had, after all, briefly crossed paths in middle school, even if they hadn't realized it at the time. Thinking back on that case, he couldn't help but realize that it too had a paranormal element to it- although this had turned out to be faked with a clever trick, like so many others.

"I do." Nodding her head, Shizuka beamed at him. "Do you want to see them, Conan-kun?"

"Yes!" Nodding his head, Conan watched as Shizuka excused herself, heading to fetch the photo albums. She returned in due time, carrying a pair of photo albums with her. One of them, the thicker one, he guessed was of general photographs. The other one was probably an album dedicated for school photographs, he thought. Choosing to pick up the thicker one first, he opened it up, wondering what Heiji as a child was like.

The pictures taken of Heiji with his family and Kazuha were normal enough, and everything that he had expected them to be. There was a brightly smiling much younger version of his friend who looked back at him, covered in mud from making mud pies with Kazuha, from the looks of things. There was a picture of his mother and Heiji at the beach, the two of them making a ridiculous face for the camera. There was even a photo of him sleeping softly next to his father, dozing away with his head on his lap. They made Conan almost smile with fondness, feeling like he was seeing a slightly new side to his good friend.

It was the pictures that had been taken of him when he wasn't around his family or his childhood friend that struck him the most. Even if Kazuha was in the picture with him, the photographs that had obviously been taken at school and neighborhood events had a decidedly different tone to them. He'd always known the Osakan to be temperamental, but there was a frustrated anger in the eyes of this much younger version of his friend that spoke to how much he would have rather be anywhere but there.

And in the corners of some of those photos, he could catch hints of cold gazes, ones that were directed at the young boy contained within them. Page after page, this didn't change. It almost began to feel as if the disdainful looks were starting to follow him, and Conan closed the album, trying to fight of the urge to shudder.

There was no mistake, the people whose expressions had been caught for all time in those photographs had been looking at Heiji with those sorts of eyes. Not just other children, but adults as well. With a frown, he glanced up at Shizuka. "Was Heiji-niichan not liked very much as a child?"

"Ah, well." Brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear, Shizuka gave him a strained smile. "It was something like that. He had a hard time making friends when he was around your age, Conan-kun. It wasn't until middle school really, that he started to make some friends outside of Kazuha. For the longest time, she was the only one he had."

"Heh, that's strange!" Conan couldn't help but quip. "I mean, Heiji-niichan's always so friendly! I don't understand why more people didn't want to be friends with him!"

"Well," Shizuka frowned ever so slightly, carefully receiving the album from him, her hands carefully stroking the cover as she considered her reply. "The Heiji from that time was a bit different from the Heiji you know now, Conan-kun. Let's put it like that."

Nodding his head, sensing that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to press this any further, Conan instead turned towards the thinner album, picking it up and placing it on his lap. Opening it up, he was struck right away by the stark contrast between the first pair of pictures- one that was celebrating Heiji and Kazuha's entrance into preschool, and the class photo that had been taken of them later on in the year.

In the first picture, Heiji and Kazuha were holding hands, standing in front of the sign of their new preschool, wearing matching outfits and matching smiles. If Conan had to be completely honest with himself, it was utterly _adorable_ \- and he half wanted to tease Heiji about it later.

Kazuha and Heiji might have still been holding hands in the class photo, but Heiji's wide smile had been all but erased from his face. He couldn't help but notice that the pair had been regulated to the very edge of the class photo, and how there was a noticeable gap between them and the rest of the class. Kazuha was doing her best to smile for the photo, even as the camera caught her gaze straying over towards her friend, who was simply staring at the ground, an almost defeated expression on his face.

The kindergarten entrance ceremony photo was somewhat the same as their preschool entrance photo, in that Heiji and Kazuha were once again holding hands and wearing matching outfits. Although he was smiling still in this one, the radiance of Kazuha's smile far outshone Heiji's, which was what Conan could best describe as 'cautiously optimistic'.

The defeated expression that had haunted his preschool class photo had gained an edge of frustration in it with his kindergarten class photo. Once again, the pair were standing at the edge of the class photo, Conan couldn't help but notice. It almost hurt to look at it- and it was a trend that continued. With every entrance picture that marked making their way into a higher grade, Heiji's smile dampened more and more, until by the time he had reached fifth grade, he wasn't smiling at all. His expression in class photos only managed to get more frustrated and angrier over time, an expression of bitterness on the face of the one who was forced to a corner in all of the class photos.

"Hm?" Conan blinked as he turned the page away from the picture celebrating Heiji and Kazuha's ascension into fifth grade, only to find that it suddenly cut straight to middle school- and while Heiji was smiling widely in this one as he seemed to proudly wear his new school uniform, there was something about the forced nature of it that made a shiver run down his spine.

"Hey, Auntie, where are Heiji-niichan's fifth and sixth grade pictures?" Conan asked, glancing over towards her. From the look on her face, she had more than anticipated this, simply shaking her head and giving him a small smile. 

"There aren't any pictures for sixth grade." She told him honestly- in the back of his mind Conan recalled that this was the year in which Heiji apparently 'disappeared' as Kazuha had put it. "As for his fifth grade class picture, well, that's..." Her gaze slide away from him, an unreadable expression crossing it. "It's really not something that you show to guests, especially not children."

"It's alright, mom."

Heiji's voice startled the both of them, neither of them having noticed him come in. He'd been gone long enough to have done more than just talked to the first victim, Conan noted, before his thoughts were filled with more important observations. The brim of his cap was pulled low over his face, rendering his expression almost invisible to the both of them. There was a note in his voice that he didn't like though, Conan thought to himself. Something felt wrong.

"Ya can show it to him." Finally turning to look towards him, Heiji gave Conan a small smile, one that was barely even an echo of the broad grin that he usually sported. It was clear that whatever he had discussed with the first victim, the one who had gone to his elementary school, he'd taken more than a few hits. "If it's this kid, he'd probably understand."

There was a clear look of hesitation in Shizuka's eyes, but she nevertheless got to her feet, heading to fetch the picture in question. Conan watched wordlessly as Heiji made his way over towards the couch, plopping down next to him, switching the brim of his cap back around. "Ya been takin' a trip down memory lane with my mom, huh, Kudo?" He asked, reaching over pat his head. "Man though, I was an angry lookin' little kid, wasn't I?"

"Hattori-" Conan began, before swallowing, realizing that he had no idea what to say. "You- you're my friend, you know that right?"

"Oh?" Blinking, Heiji glanced down at him, the grin that surfaced on his features finally appearing far more genuine. "What's this about, Kudo? This kinda mushiness isn't like ya. Of course I know somethin' like that!"

"I just thought it could use some reiterating." Conan said simply, before trying to give him a small smile, flipping back to the first picture in the school album. "But seriously Hattori, matching outfits?"

At the way Heiji's face turned bright red, Conan couldn't help but let out a small laugh, especially as he reached out to snatch the photo album away from him, snapping it closed. "That was when we were little kids! It was my mom's idea! I had nothin' ta do with it, so shut up, _idiot!_ "

"No, no, I mean, it's cute." Conan said, a mischievous tone to his voice.

"Shut up. I don't wanna hear someone whose childhood wardrobe included a _bow tie_ make fun of the way I was dressed as a kid." Heiji muttered, shooting him a dirty look.

"There's nothing wrong with bow ties." Conan shot him a dirty look right back, before it slipped into one that exposed the underlying worry he had for his friend at the moment. "But are you really alright, Hattori? It's not like you to shut me out when it comes to a case like that."

"Ah, sorry." Heiji quickly apologized, facing forward. "I didn't mean ta shut ya out, Kudo, I know how much ya hate that sort of thing. It was just..." He trailed off, fixing his gaze to the ceiling. "There's some bad blood between the victim an' I. I didn't wanna expose ya ta that, that's all."

There was also the small fact that he hadn't wanted Conan to hear someone refer to him as a curse and a freak, words that had plagued him all throughout his childhood, and had been in no shortage on the victim's lips, even as she had the audacity to ask him to help her. He owed it to her, she claimed, for what had happened to her sister. Even with her mouth cut open, the sharpness of the words of the victim he knew from a time in the distant past had been no less cutting. He was far more prepared to deal with them as a teenager, at the very least, but he kind of didn't want to see the look being on the receiving end of those words would earn him from Conan.

"Bad blood?" Conan asked, frowning. "What do you mean by that, Hattori?"

"Well, it'll become clear soon enough." Rising to his feet, Heiji tucked his hands inside his pockets. "I'll be in my room, if ya need me, Kudo." With that, the Osakan detective made his way out of the living room, exiting it just as his mother returned. They briefly paused to exchange words, before they too, parted ways.

As Shizuka made her way back over towards the couch, carefully clutching what appeared to be the missing fifth grade photo to her chest as if it were more precious than gold, Conan peered at it in curiosity. He was struck right away by the black outer layer that the photo was wrapped in- there was something about it that almost reminded him of a memorial photograph.

"I don't really think this is a thing to show to children myself, but if Heiji himself says it's alright, then..." Trailing off a little, Shizuka placed the photograph book in front of him, removing the cover so that Conan could finally see the contents.

For once, Heiji and Kazuha were front and center of a class photograph- but it was hardly anything to celebrate. Not when nothing but empty chairs surrounded the pair, black picture frames draped with black ribbons placed on the chairs in the place of the missing students. Off to the corner, there stood a deeply rattled looking young woman, who was holding a black picture frame as well, one that was also draped with a black ribbon around the edges, a much older man's photo contained within it.

The somber, almost haunting air contained within the photograph was a stark contrast to the smiling faces of the children whose images were forever immortalized within their memorial pictures. Without thinking about it, Conan found himself counting the empty chairs, making a mental note that there were twenty three of them exactly. Plus the dead man, who most likely was another teacher, that made twenty four people.

Something horrible had happened. That much was crystal clear.

But what haunted him the most about the photograph, he thought, was the look in Heiji's eyes. Those blue eyes were fixed straight towards the camera, not quite staring at it, but rather, simply staring straight ahead. Even though Kazuha was quite clearly tightly grasping his hand in this picture, so tightly that Conan couldn't help but notice her knuckles having turned white, it was almost as if he hadn't noticed.

Placing the cover back over the photograph with a shudder, Conan almost wished that he hadn't seen it in the first place. As much as it seemed to be a key piece of the increasing mystery that was Hattori Heiji, he couldn't help but feel as if he would have been better off not knowing this- if he had never known that his friend had been capable of making that kind of face, of having those kind of eyes.

There had been no life contained within those eyes.

A Hattori Heiji that was completely devoid of any expression was something that he had not quite been prepared to handle.

Feeling the soft hand of Shizuka lightly stroking his head, Conan snapped back into reality, drawing himself away from the now sealed photograph. At the somber look in her eyes, he could tell full well that this was something that was painful for her. Finally trusting his voice again, Conan swallowed, setting the haunting picture down.

"What happened?"

It was the only question he could think of, and it was the only question that really mattered.

"There was an accident." Shizuka said simply, continuing to lightly stroke his hair as she spoke. He didn't fuss over it, finding the action strangely comforting- and he imagined that it was the same way for Heiji's mother as well. "A horrible accident."

"While Heiji was in fifth grade, his teachers thought it would be fun to take the students of their class to explore a mountainside farm for a weekend to celebrate their coming advancement to sixth grade. Heiji's always been the type to like animals, so even he was kind of excited this time, even though he usually hated school events and the like." Shizuka said softly, visible echoes of a wound that hadn't quite been healed dancing around the corners of her eyes. "However, the night before..."

"No." Shaking her head, Shizuka decided to cut off a part of the story. "Before they left for the trip, Heiji rose up a huge fuss and tried to get them to cancel. But the teachers wouldn't listen to him. Eventually he grabbed Kazuha's hand and ran away with her, and the bus ended up leaving without them. Their assistant teacher told them she would find where Heiji had hidden with Kazuha and bring them to the farm herself, however..."

"There was a horrible landslide." Swallowing, Shizuka's hand finally stilled, reaching a part of the story that was still painful. "The bus was completely swept off the road and buried within the mud. Everyone onboard died."

Conan didn't need to ask for clarification to know that their deaths had not been instant- the expression on Shizuka's face told him more than enough.

"Because Heiji and Kazuha weren't on that bus, they were the only students from their class to survive the accident. In the end, that class of twenty five students was reduced to only having two students. That assistant teacher retired right away afterwards." Shaking her head, Shizuka carefully removed her hand from Conan's head, placing it in her lap. "It was the worst possible accident. There was nothing anyone could do stop it."

Closing his eyes, Conan took in and let out a deep breath, finally hearing the distinct sound of a piece of the puzzle finally being snapped firmly into place within his mind. Now all he had to do was accept the fact that this was the truth, and a small section of the mystery that was his rival would finally have light shed upon it. The answer, after all, involved something he had laughed off not that long ago as his friend just being oddly superstitious, getting worried on his own about something that wasn't a big deal at all.

He had to face the idea- no, the likely fact- that Heiji's premonitions of disaster were _real._

"You know, Auntie," Conan began, turning to look up at her. "The first that I came to this city with Ran-neechan to visit Heiji-niichan, he told me that he'd had a scary nightmare about me!" As he watched the expression of surprise that washed over Shizuka's face, Conan continued. "He told me that someone had stabbed me, and that I had died. He was so worried about me that he gave me the charm that Kazuha-neechan had made for him!"

"And what do you know!" Spreading out his arms, Conan gave the woman a wide smile. "Because of that charm, I didn't get hurt, even though I was nearly stabbed! Isn't that amazing, Auntie?"

Closing her eyes for a moment, as if pondering what to say, Shizuka finally opened them back up, giving him a small smile. "That must mean he cares about you quite a bit, Conan-kun." She told him. "That boy is someone who treasures those he cares about very deeply, and would do anything in his power to prevent them from facing harm. It's been that way ever since he was a child."

"Yeah, I know that." Conan nodded his head. "I care about him a lot too, Auntie! That's why don't want to see Heiji-niichan sad about anything, you know." Turning his head so that he faced forward, Conan hide the narrowing of his eyes behind the glare of his glasses. "He really can see it, can't he?"

Although she was slightly taken aback by the decidedly unchildlike tone that surfaced in Conan's voice, the meaning behind his words were clear as day to her. Slowly nodding her head, she carefully picked up the assorted albums, pulling them close to her chest. "Ever since he was a little boy, he's been haunted by those horrible dreams. He would wake up crying in the middle of the night, begging me not to take my usual route home from the supermarket the next day, or to avoid my favorite sewing supply store. I had to assure him over and over again that I would."

"That day, too." Shizuka noted, her gaze falling on the sealed photograph cast aside on the table. "It's like a curse."

"I'm going to go see Heiji-niichan, auntie." Jumping off the couch, Conan glanced up towards her, giving her a small smile. "Thanks for showing me the pictures!"  
______________________________________________________________________

_"Ya have ta listen to me!"_

At the sound of his bedroom door opening, Heiji opened his eyes, dashing away the echo of a memory half better forgotten. Turning to look towards the not-child who had just entered his room, Heiji swung his feet off of his bed, flashing him a wide grin, acting for all the world as if he didn't know what it was that he had just seen. "Yo, Kudo! Ya ready ta hop right back into investigatin' that case? It's already startin' ta get kinda late, but if we go around the side, I think we can sneak outta here without anyone stoppin' us. If someone's runnin' around dressed as a-"

_"Hattori."_

The sharp way that his name was spoken caused Heiji to quickly shut his mouth, heaving a sigh. His smile somewhat dampened, he rubbed the back of his neck, crossing the room until he stood in front of the shrunken detective that he had come to view as one of his best friends. Although his expression was concealed by the glare of his glasses, Heiji already had a good idea of what kind of face was hidden behind them- he could tell that much from his tightly clenched fists, and the way he almost seemed to tremble.

"Cryin's not like ya, Kudo." Heiji observed simply, taking a seat in front of him. "So ya saw that photo, huh? It's pretty hard ta take, I'll admit that much. I don't really know why mom keeps in the first place. I think she's probably just afraid to throw it away, probably thinks she'll be cursed if she does."

"I'm not crying, shut up. I'm just upset." Conan said finally, pulling off his glasses and setting them aside for the moment. There was a deep, almost painful look of sympathy within his eyes- and one of understanding as well. The pain of carrying the weight of someone's life was something that was hard to take, he knew that full well, and he couldn't imagine what it would have been like for a _real_ elementary school student to carry that weight.

"It's true, isn't it? Absurd as it sounds, you can actually do it." Conan asked finally, heaving a sigh. "In your dreams, you... you see things that haven't happened yet. Horrible things, from the sound of it."

"All my life." Heiji said simply, shrugging his shoulders, giving his friend an almost sheepish grin. "S'not fun."

"No, I can imagine it wouldn't be." Conan said finally, taking a seat on the floor next to him. "How do you deal with it, Hattori? How can you go out there into the world and still smile like you do day after day? Especially after... after something like _that_."

He wasn't about to tell Heiji how it wasn't his fault, and how there was nothing that he could have done, even if he had seen that future coming- Conan already understood the feeling that he kept locked within his heart all too well. He wasn't about to say it was the fault of those who hadn't listened to what he was trying to say, either. Pining the blame on the dead was tasteless and crass. It was easy to say those sorts of things when you didn't understand, but when you did understand, you would realize how empty and hollow those words really were, completely without any meaning. So he wasn't going to say them.

"Because if I don't do it, nobody will." Heiji said simply, staring up at the ceiling. "It's somethin' that I've learned ta live with over the years, Kudo. It was pretty horrible when I was a kid though, I'll tell ya!" Glancing back down at his feet, Heiji shook his head. "Everyone used ta think of me as some kind of ill omen, or thought I was cursed. That if they stayed around me too much, some kind of disaster would strike them too. I used ta half believe 'em too, till I figured things out on my own. The only one who really stuck around me during that time was Kazuha."

"You're not, you know." Conan said after a moment. "I mean, you're not an ill omen, Hattori. An _annoying_ omen, maybe."

Letting out a snort, Heiji looked over towards him, giving him a slight nudge in the shoulder. "Thanks, Kudo. That means a lot." Rising to his feet, he flashed him a wide grin. "So how about that case, Kudo? There's still time fer us ta go solve it together."

"How together are we talking about here, Hattori?" Conan asked, giving him an assessing look as he got to his feet, unable to help recall Heiji's peculiar behavior from the case of the missing children. He had a creeping hunch that his friend had done more back then than Conan actually knew about. "Together all the way through, or together for most of it, until you run off somewhere on your own again to probably go do something that I can't even begin to imagine as of yet."

"Mm." A considering look on his face, Heiji tilted his head slightly, steepling his fingers together. " _Probably_ the latter, it's shapin' up ta be. At least if my theory is right."

"Are you going to share your theory with me?" Conan asked, quirking a brow at him as he picked up his glasses, sliding them back on.

"There's two culprits." Heiji said simply. "Let's you an' I deal with culprit B together."

"And culprit A?" Conan asked, even though he already had a good idea as to what the answer would be.

"Don't worry yer pretty little head over culprit A, Kudo. That's _my_ job." As a bright grin broke across his face almost like the dawning sun, Heiji reached up to the brim of his cap, turning it around so that it faced forward once more. "An' I'm pretty good at my job, if I say so myself."

"I only just touched the tip of the iceberg of what you're keeping from me, didn't I?" Conan asked, heaving a slightly exasperated sigh.

"That's one way of puttin' it, Kudo!" Came Heiji's chipper reply, acting as if his entire mood had been lifted. The fact that Conan had come around to even this small section of the truth with full acceptance was more than enough to dash away his bad mood from earlier in the day. Even if he came to realize nothing else, just this small measure of belief and acceptance was enough to fill the Osakan detective with what could be best described as elation. While there was nothing quite like dealing with the sister of a classmate whose blood you had on your hands to ruin your day- the support and acceptance from someone you valued as your best friend was more enough of an antidote to cancel it out. "I'm not tellin' ya the rest though, ya still gotta find it out all on yer own. Think outside the box though."

"After prophetic dreams, I'm about prepared for anything." Conan said with a shrug. "Well, whatever. We've got a case in front of us right now. I can worry about you later."

"Wow Kudo, that's _cold_. An' here I am, worryin' about yer tiny self all the time." Placing his hands over his chest in a mock display of hurt, Heiji flashed him another grin, shaking his head as the pair of them made their way back outside, just as the sun began to set overhead.

"Shut up, you increasing enigma." Conan grumbled, before he paused, something from earlier tugging at his memory. Turning back towards Heiji, he gave him a stern look, narrowing his eyes at him. As long as they were throwing out seemingly otherwise absurd ideas as the truth here, he might as well throw out the one that had been lingering in the back of his mind for awhile. "Hattori, I've only got one more question for you, and then I'm done with you for the night."

"Hm?" Blinking, Heiji glanced down at him, wondering what it would be. "What's up, Kudo?"

"The reason you were at the Kid heist- it's not because you were the one who stole the Dragon's Egg from Kid, right?

From the way his friend seemed to break out into a cold sweat, quickly averting his gaze from him, it was more than obvious that he'd hit his mark- one that he hadn't exactly been aiming for in the first place, really. It really had just been a wild idea that he didn't quite think was the actual truth. "W-what are ya talkin' about, Kudo? Why would a detective ever steal anythin' much less steal somethin' a phantom thief was already stealin'?"

" _Hattori._ " Conan's tone was sharp, this time for an entirely different reason than earlier. Putting a hand to his face, he swore he felt the beginnings of a headache coming on. "Oh my god, Hattori. Did you really-?" Turning away from him for a moment, Conan tired to figure out what to say, briefly pausing to look back at him again before all but throwing up his hands. "I can't believe this. I ask a question half on a whim thinking you'll laugh it off, and it turns out that it's true."

"Are you at least going to give it _back_?" Conan found himself asking, not even remotely sure what to make of the information that _Hattori Heiji_ , high school detective of the west and his rival, had just up and stolen something from the likes of _Kaito Kid_.

"I can't do that, Kudo." Heiji told him with a small frown, before a mischievous grin crossed his face. "It already hatched." Quickly hurrying ahead of him, Heiji paused for only a moment to watch the look of utter befuddlement cross his best friend's face.

"Wait. _What?_ "

"Ya said only one more question, Kudo, an' ya already asked two! Figure it out on yer own, great detective!"

"Hattori, you ass! Get back here!"


	7. The Mysterious Abandoned Shop is Not Abandoned, But Still Mysterious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The investigation into the Kuchisake-onna attacks continues, and Conan finds himself intensely frustrated by the fact that unlocking one of Heiji's secrets has only made him seen twice as mysterious in return. Meanwhile, Heiji and Kazuha hatch an evil plot- but it's okay, it's in the sake of justice.

"I can't _believe_ Hattori-kun." Puffing out her cheeks slightly, Ran glanced around his empty room, noticing a distinct lack of either the Osakan detective in question or her young ward- the latter of which she was _far_ more irritated by. "Don't tell me he's dragged Conan-kun off with him to another crime scene again. He's just a child, you know!"

"Well, Conan-kun might have also just followed Heiji on his own." Kazuha noted, glancing over towards her friend with a small smile. "Anyways, we should probably tell Auntie Shizuka to save them both some dinner. I'm sure they'll be fine. That Kuchisake-onna has only been attacking women so far, anyways."

A slight shudder ran down Ran's spine at the mention of the urban legend that had all but come to life. "I hope you're right, Kazuha-chan." She told her with a slight frown. "And here I thought that this would be a pleasant, case free trip. Maybe I was getting my hopes up too high."

"Things like this do always happen when the two of them get together, don't they?" Kazuha asked. "Well, it can't be helped. At least we were able to _mostly_ have a fun day out together before all of this happened. Besides, with Heiji on the case, I'm sure it'll be solved in a flash!" A confident grin spread out across Kazuha's face, as she gave Ran a light pat on the shoulder. "An' then we can get right back to havin' a good time."

"That's true." Nodding her head, Ran closed the door to Heiji's room, heading back out into the hallway. "Although it feels kind of strange to be at Hattori-kun's place when he's nowhere to be found. He could have at least said that he was leaving!"

"Ah, Heiji has a bad habit of not doing that." Kazuha told her, scratching her cheek. "Sometimes he's here, and sometimes he's not. There's no way ta really know until ya go check his room out fer yourself. If yer lucky, he'll at least have left a note."

"So he not only appears without warning, he disappears without warning as well?" Ran asked. She didn't really mind the times that Heiji had come over to stay at the detective agency, but she always kind of wished that he would give them a little more advanced notice, especially when it meant that she had to cook for an extra person. She didn't think he was doing it entirely on purpose, but...

"Ya get used to it after awhile." Kazuha told her. "But more importantly, Ran-chan, where do you want to go tomorrow? There's still plenty of places in Osaka that we haven't shown ya yet!"

"Mm, I don't know." Frowning a little, Ran gave her something of an apologetic look. "With all of this Kuchisake-onna talk, I'm kind of afraid to really go out much. What would we do if she approached us?"

"It probably would be okay!" Nodding her head, Kazuha placed her hands on her hips, brimming with confidence. "After all, I know the key to defeatin' the Kuchisake-onna! If ya just tell her ya have some other place ta be, she'll usually leave ya alone. At least, that's what Heiji told me."

"Hattori-kun did?" Ran blinked, a little surprised by that. Heiji was one of the last people she would have suspected to have much knowledge about urban legends. "Ah, but that's right. You did say something like that, didn't you? That in the past Hattori-kun wasn't as big of a skeptic as he is now."

"Well, to be frank with ya Ran-chan, that whole skeptic thing is probably just an act." Shrugging her shoulders, Kazuha made her way down the hallway, heading towards the dining room where dinner was waiting for them. "Well, don't tell Heiji I told you that. Ya probably shouldn't mention it ta Conan-kun either, for that matter. It's probably fer him that Heiji's mostly puttin' it on for."

"That might be true." Giving Kazuha a small smile as she thought of her young ward, Ran inclined her head. "Conan-kun really doesn't believe in that sort of thing. But if it's just an act on Hattori-kun's part, does that mean he really does believe in ghosts and curses and things like that?"

"Mm, well," Scratching her cheek, Kazuha averted her gaze from Ran somewhat. It was possible that she _might_ have said more to her than she should have already- she knew that Heiji really didn't like talking about this sort of thing. In fact, until today, she hadn't even been aware that his entire skeptic thing _had_ been an act herself. Still, she didn't want to make Heiji feel like there was no one he could talk to about this sort of thing, and if it was Ran, she was certain that she would understand!

Scared of monsters as she was, Kazuha still got the feeling that if they'd known Ran back when they were kids, she would have accepted the Heiji from back then just as easily as she accepted the one from now. Even with all of the things that set him apart from other children.

"I guess he does?" Kazuha said finally, tilting her head to the side. Judging from what Heiji had told her earlier in the day, she could guess that his ability to see things that others couldn't hadn't actually changed at all. "Well, don't tell him I told ya this, Ran-chan, because I think he might get mad at me, but," Pivoting slightly on her heel so that she could face the girl behind her, Kazuha clasped her hands behind her back. "The reason that Heiji was considered a weird kid in elementary school was because he always said he could ghosts an' things like that."

"Eh? Really?" Pausing midstep, visibly startled by this information. " _That_ Hattori-kun?" As she gradually realized what this must have meant by extension, Ran's face slowly paled. "B-but, Kazuha-chan, if Hattori-kun really can see ghosts, doesn't that mean... doesn't that mean they're r-really real?"

"Ah, well," Giving Ran something of a sheepish smile, Kazuha let out a slightly nervous chuckle. "I guess that's one way of lookin' at it. All I know is that ever since we were kids, Heiji could definitely see things that nobody else could. Everyone else thought he was either creepy or a liar, but I never saw it that way. Even if it was a little scary sometimes." She admitted after a moment, shrugging her shoulders. "But well, ya really shouldn't let knowin' that change the way ya think of him, Ran-chan. An idiot's still an idiot, even if they can see ghosts."

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Ran quickly protested, shaking her head. "Even ghosts if are scary, that doesn't mean Hattori-kun's scary by extent! Besides, if there really _was_ something dangerous out there that we couldn't see, I'm certain that he wouldn't let us go anywhere near it!"

"That's the kind of person he is." Nodding her head in agreement, Kazuha beamed at her friend, pleased to see that she had made the right choice. "I'm still kind of mad at him for even tryin' ta keep me out of the loop though. I thought _somethin'_ was fishy when we hit middle school an' he started ta pretend that everythin' he had said in the past about ghosts an' dreams an' stuff were just lies that he'd made up. But well, I guess I can't really blame him. He probably just wanted people to treat him normally for a change."

"Come to think of it, _that_ phenomenon stopped around middle school as well..." Trailing off a little, Kazuha put a hand to her chin, tilting her head slightly in thought. "No, maybe a little before then? Maybe that's why I bought his lie so easily."

"I kind of get the feeling I'll regret asking this, but what phenomenon, Kazuha-chan?" Ran asked after a moment, half regretting the question as soon as it left her mouth.

"I guess ya could call it poltergeist phenomenon?" Kazuha told her, watching as the color once again drained from her friend's face. Well, she herself had gotten used to it after awhile, so talking about it didn't really faze her that much. "Sometimes things would just _happen_ around Heiji. Things would fall over and break, or the room would shake... things of that nature. Sometimes electronics would go on the fritz as well. Ah, but for whatever reason, once it was over, Heiji would always seem to be feelin' a lot better. Usually fer at least a week up ta it, he always seemed antsy and irritated an' had trouble sleepin'. Kind of like he had too much energy built up."

"Ah but, none of that sort of thing has happened since at least middle school, like I said!" Kazuha was quick to reassure her friend. "Whatever it was, he obviously found a way of dealin' with it!"

"Well, if you say so, Kazuha-chan." Ran said with a small frown- which quickly transformed into a small smile. It was true that it sounded a bit scary, but she didn't want Kazuha to get the wrong idea and start thinking that she was starting to find Heiji somewhat scary in turn. "But you really have known Hattori-kun for forever, haven't you? Come to think of it, I only met Shinichi myself around preschool."

"Yeah, we've known each other since we were babies." Kazuha told her, a bright grin surfacing on her face. "My father and his father were friends from their school years, and were partners on the police force at the time we were born, so that's how the two of us met. One way or another, I've been stuck with that idiot ever since then."  
____________________________________________________________

_"Achoo!"_

"Are you catching a cold, Hei-chan?" Glancing over at the much younger boy next to him, Otaki gave him something of a worried look. "You should be careful about summer colds. If I'm remembering right, you don't really handle them well."

"I'm fine, Otaki-han." Flashing him a wide grin and purposefully ignoring the intense stare that Conan had been casting towards him ever since awhile back, Heiji turned his full attention towards the man. "So? What have ya got fer me? I know the old man has probably been gatherin' all kinds of information while I've been out doin' my own thing. Ya can help me out with it, right, Otaki-han?"

"I don't mind." Otaki said, pausing to glance over towards Conan, catching the way that he was looking at Heiji out of the corner of his eye. The moment that the bespectacled boy noticed Otaki looking at him though, he almost immediately shifted his expression to that of a smile. "According to all of the victims we've been able to talk to, they can confirm that at the very least, the appearance of their attacker's mouth _did_ seem to match up to that of the Kuchisake-onna legend."

"That said, it appears that while the first two victims described the mouth the attacker showed them upon answering her question as having been split from ear to ear, it would appear that for the other three girls, they only describe the woman's mouth as being deeply cut along both sides." Otaki noted, a slight frown on his face. "That's why your father currently believes there might be two people behind this. He's been looking into any records of accidents, incidents, or any medical malpractice suits filed over the last five years, trying to find someone who fits the bill."

"So it's as I thought, then." Narrowing his eyes, Heiji placed a hand against his chin. If his hunch was correct, then it was possible that only one of the attackers- the first woman described by the first two victims, was a real Kuchisake-onna. It was possible that the second was a perfectly normal human who had taken advantage of the news to carry out some form of revenge of her own. There had been a noticeable gap between the second and third attacks, so it wasn't impossible.

Perhaps she thought to mask her crimes with those of the real thing. Well, it was a plan that would most likely backfire against her. Instead of being accused of just three attacks, she would now be accused of all five of them. There was nothing he could do for her there, it was a hole she had dug herself.

Well, it was also entirely possible that culprit B had done something to draw the Kuchisake-onna to Osaka in the first place. Perhaps she just wasn't satisfied to let the monster she'd drawn in do her work for her, and wanted to take part in it herself as well. If that was the case, then in a way she would _still_ be directly responsible for the first two attacks. Whatever the case, it would be better for the general public to believe that a human culprit had been behind them all, even if that wasn't the whole truth.

If a mass panic really did break out about the Kuchisake-onna, that would only give her more strength and make her even harder to deal with. Now that he thought about it, mass panic might be the reason why culprit B was working so hard to increase the number of attacks- if they had any idea how the spread of urban legends actually worked, then it was probably the case.

Urban legends, Heiji thought to himself, were a pain in the ass.

"Has Heiji-niichan's father found anyone that matches the profile yet?" Conan finally spoke up, shooting one last long look towards his Osakan friend, before he finally decided to put aside the matter of the Dragon's Egg and concentrate at the task at hand. Heiji probably had a good reason for taking it in the first place, he figured, and he sort of had a vague feeling that whatever Heiji's secret was, it gave his fellow detective a sort of _different_ view of the law than his own.

What that view was, he wasn't precisely sure- but he had hunch that he was going to find out.

Nodding his head, Otaki pulled open his police notebook, flipping to the correct page. "For the moment we have two suspects, both of whom have facial scars that more or less match what the victims described. The first is Nakao Aiko, age twenty-seven, who was in a car accident six months ago that left her face badly scarred. She was formerly a model, and lost her job as a result of her scars, and was forced to move back in with her parents. She currently has no alibi for the times during which the attacks occurred."

"The other is Hirase Yumiko, age twenty-two. Apparently she was assaulted by a jealous classmate back in high school that left her with permanent scars on her face." Otaki explained. "She apparently dropped out of school and became a recluse after that. At the moment, she's our top suspect. According to her parents she went out early in the morning and hasn't come back home since, and they haven't been able to get in touch with her either. We currently have officers out looking for a woman who matches her description."

"Couldn't it be possible that they might be working together?" Conan chimed in, glancing up at the Osakan Inspector.

"According to Nakao-han herself, and Hirase-han's parents, the two of them don't know each other." Otaki told him, shutting his police notebook and tucking it back away. "Of course, it's possible that Nakao-han could be lying, and Hirase-han's parents just might not know one way or the other. The latter seem rather adamant that their daughter is innocent, however."

"Do they know why she left?" Heiji asked. "For a shut-in ta leave the house fer such a long time is a bit odd. There must have been some special reason behind it."

"They said they had no idea, only that she seemed to be in unusually high spirits before she left." Otaki told him, shaking his head. "They only just caught Hirase-han slipping out of the house that morning, and had no time to question her about it before she left. She appeared to be carrying some kind of bag with her at the time, but was otherwise dressed normally."

"Around what time?" Heiji asked.

"Around five in the morning, an hour or so before the first attack occurred." Otaki noted.

Something about that didn't sit right with him, and he had a bad feeling in his gut about it. If there really was a real Kuchisake-onna on the loose as well, then there was at least one method he knew that would have drawn it towards Osaka that would have fit with the missing woman. Still, it was too early to jump to conclusions. Narrowing his eyes a little, he briefly glanced down towards Conan, before looking back towards Otaki. "What about the other suspect, Nakao-han? Has she left the house today at all?"

"It seems that her parents heard her in her room around eight in the morning, when they left breakfast in front of it, but they hadn't actually physically seen her." Otaki noted. "She was there when we went to speak to her around seven in the evening, however. I didn't really notice anything too out of the ordinary about her behavior at the time, though she seemed to grow very offended when she realized why we were asking her questions. I suppose that's no real surprise, she must have felt like we were accusing her just because she had the right kind of facial scars."

"I see." Folding his arms in front of his chest, Heiji mulled over what he already knew. The uneasy feeling that he had in the bit of his stomach about the missing suspect wouldn't go away and he could only hope that this would end with the most ideal result- _especially_ with Kudo here. "Could ya pass on their addresses ta me, Otaki-han? I'd like ta speak with Nakao-han and Hirase-han's parents myself."

"I don't have a problem with that myself, Hei-chan, but I'm not certain if Nakao-han will be willing to speak to you." Advising him of this with a slight frown, he nevertheless quickly jotted down the two addresses in question, passing it on to Heiji, who accepted it gratefully.

"Well, don't worry about that, Otaki-han! One way or another, I'm sure things'll work out!"  
_______________________________________________________

It hadn't been the first time Conan had found a door slammed shut in his face since he started working as a detective, but this definitely marked the first time it had been slammed shut with such _vigor_. If he had been any closer to it, he might have very well gotten his nose smashed in.

"Well," Heiji began, still reeling from the sudden shift in tone the woman had displayed when she'd learned that they'd come to ask her questions about the murders- she'd been so pleasant up until that point! "...that was short."

"It looks like Otaki-san's intuition was right on the mark." Conan observed, catching the way that Aiko now seemed to be glaring at them from her bedroom window. Exchanging a glance between them, the pair decided that perhaps it was best to leave before she got it into her head to, ironically enough, call the cops. Leaving the suspect's house behind them, both detectives couldn't help but shake the distinct feeling that her disagreeable nature had more behind it than simply feeling that she was being unjustly accused.

"My intuition says she's hiding something, if she's not involved herself." Conan observed, glancing up at his friend. He knew right away from his expression alone that he was on the same page. "What do you think, Hattori?"

"Yeah, she's definitely hidin' somethin'." Nodding his head, he spared a brief glance back towards the house, before shaking his head. "An' Hirase-han's parents were both worried sick fer their daughter, but like Otaki-han said, neither of them think that she has anythin' ta do with it. They seemed really adamant about it too."

"Well, it's not impossible that they're right, and someone is trying to set Hirase-san up." Conan said with a frown. If that was the case, there was the grim possibility that Hirase Yumiko was already dead. "But they're also her parents. No parent would want to believe that their child could do something like this. It's too early to dismiss either possibility either way."

"That much is fer sure." Scratching the back of his head, a small idea seemed to pop into his brain then, and he paused, glancing down at Conan as if considering something. If his earlier hunch was on the mark, then just maybe... "Well, it's already past ten now, there's nothin' much we can do at this time of night but wait. Want to swing by somewhere before we head back ta my place, though? There's some things I need ta pick up, I just remembered. If yer lucky, ya might even get some candy, Kudo."

There was something about that expression on his face that Conan didn't entirely trust- he knew that look. "In spite of how I look, Hattori, I'm not actually a child. You don't need to tempt me with candy." Letting his suspicions surface on his face, he gave Heiji a long look. "What kind of place is this anyways?"

"A real interestin' place!" Flashing Conan a wide smile, Heiji tucked his hands in his pockets, walking two steps ahead of him. "The old ladies there have been takin' care of me ever since I was a kid. They'll probably just want ta eat someone as cute as ya right up!"

"...That's not meant to be _literal_ , is it?" Conan couldn't help but ask, a doubtful expression on his face. In between the prophetic dreams and the affair regarding the Dragon's Egg, the latter of which he still had many questions about, he half wasn't sure _what_ to expect from Heiji anymore.

As his friend burst out into a fit of laughter, Conan let out a slight breath of relief. "Do ya really think I'd bring ya ta some place like that, Kudo? Show some faith in me! What kind of person do ya think I am?"

"That's an excellent question, actually." Conan noted, quickly falling into pace with him. "Exactly what kind of person _are_ you, Hattori?"

"Me?" Blinking, Heiji looked down at him, before shrugging his shoulders. "I'm me."

Raising his brows at that particularly unhelpful answer, Conan turned his head, staring straight ahead, deciding to change the subject somewhat. "Have you always wanted to be a detective, Hattori? I have, ever since I was a kid- a _real_ one, that is."

"What kind of question is that?" Frowning, Heiji spared another glance down at him, before he turned to look straight ahead himself. "Well, don't tell the old man this, but I always admired him when I was a kid. I always thought that I wanted ta do somethin' like he does, but I also kinda thought it was impossible back then. I thought with the way I am, I'd have ta give up on somethin' like that. Didn't think I could ever get anyone ta trust me or believe in the things I've got ta say."

"But it turned out that wasn't the case." Heiji said after a moment. "An' before I knew it, people started callin' me a detective in my own right, even though it's not _quite_ what I set out ta be. Well, it's been pretty fun in it's own way, all things considered. 'Sides, it's how I got ta meet you, Kudo."

Not having quite expected that last part, Conan quickly coughed into his hand in order to cover up the slight flush of his cheeks. He hadn't really had anyone he could think of as a best friend outside of Ran before, so even though it might have not always seemed that way, he was always happy to hang around Heiji. It was actually strangely comforting in a way to learn that they were more in the same boat in that regard than he'd thought- honestly, before all of this happened, he'd always kind of assumed that Heiji was the type who had always been at the center of a large circle of friends. Certainly, Conan's own real childhood didn't sound half as lonely or frustrating as Heiji's had been, but he'd been kind of a loner outside of Ran for the longest- and Sonoko he guessed, though she'd always been more of Ran's friend than his own.

"You know, Haibara thinks you're strange." Conan said after a moment, desperately searching for any method to change the topic that he had been the one to bring up in the first place. "She told me that she always thought it was weird that you were able to connect Kudo Shinichi and Edogawa Conan so easily."

"Is that so?" Heiji blinked, tilting his head back a little, giving it some thought. He probably shouldn't mention just yet that the real reason he'd gone looking for Kudo Shinichi in the first place was because he thought his disappearance had something to do with his own area of expertise- he'd been proven wrong, in that regard, however.

Well, there was still the pesky matter of that curse, but he wouldn't be able to do anything for him in regards to that until he believed that he was cursed to begin with. He could only provide him stopgap measures to make sure it didn't get completely out of hand, something which he was very careful to make sure that Conan never noticed him doing.

"Well, I guess it's not somethin' that most people would consider as possible." Heiji continued after a moment. "I guess that little Neechan's not wrong. I won't deny that I'm pretty strange. But hearin' a shrunken teenager say that about me... I'm not sure how I feel about that."

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess we have something in common after all." Conan said after a moment, before casting him an assessing look, changing the topic once more, back to the thing that had been bothering him ever since he'd brought it up. "Seriously though, Hattori. Don't tell met that the person who trashed the art dealer's office and stole all of the other eggs he'd sold was you as well?"

"Yeah, that was me. Though trashin' the office was more of an accident." The frank answer wasn't quite what Conan had been expecting, especially as Heiji flashed him a grin, completely shameless about the fact that he'd _definitely_ done something far outside of the bounds of the law. "They weren't supposed ta have those things in the first place, so I just took 'em all back."

"On whose judgement?" Conan couldn't help but ask, though he had a feeling he already knew what the answer was. " _Please_ don't tell me you're considering becoming a phantom thief yourself, Hattori. I've got my hands full with Kid already, I don't need to be chasing you around on top of it."

"Mine." Heiji told him honestly, watching as Conan let out a loud groan. Yeah, that had been exactly the answer he'd expected the Osakan detective to give. "An' no, don't worry about that Kudo, I've got no interest in that sorta thing. This was more means to an end than anythin' else. Well, you'll understand eventually, Kudo. It's not like I did it without good reason."

"You're not going to try and convince me that those things were _real_ dragon eggs, are you, Hattori?" Conan asked, giving his friend a rather long look. Well, since he didn't have all the information, he'd hold his tongue for the moment. Although quite honestly, even if he _did_ want to turn him in, he could imagine that the only reaction he would get from trying to convince someone that Hattori Heiji had committed theft was uproarious laughter. It sounded like a bad joke, after all.

"Well would ya look at that, Kudo!" Heiji said, suddenly coming to a stop, a broad grin appearing on his face. Sensing that he had no intention of answering his earlier question, Conan turned his head towards the building in front of them. "We're here!"

"Here?" Conan blinked, only growing increasingly befuddled as he looked at the rather rundown building in front of him. From the way Heiji had talked about it, he had assumed it was going to be some kind of shop or something, but there wasn't even so much as a sign to indicate that this was the case. If anything, it looked like the building had been abandoned for _years_. "Are you sure you have the right place?"

Come to think of it, what kind of store would be open at ten at night anyways? It'd be one thing if it were a convenience store, but...

"Well, just wait an' see." Heiji said, waving a hand. As he took hold of the doorknob, Conan couldn't help but notice that for the briefest of moments, sparks almost seemed crackle outwards from his hand. Taking off his glasses to rub his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things, he opened them back up to notice that Heiji had already opened the door.

There was light inside the building now. There hadn't been any before.

Scrambling to catch up with Heiji who all but invited himself in, Conan followed him inside the strange building. Once inside, it did appear as if it were a store of some kind, although what lined the shelves were the strangest of things. Although the old books seemed pretty normal at first glance, upon closer examination, he couldn't help but notice that he had no idea in what language they were written. Various trinkets, beaded bracelets, and glittering jewels lined the shelves, placed with no apparent rhyme nor reason along them, alongside things that Conan really had no way to explain. Probably the most _normal_ thing in the store were the candles, of which there was any number of.

And why did he get the feeling he was being watched?

"Hattori, what exactly is this place?" Conan asked, glancing somewhat nervously up towards him, pulling his gaze away from what appeared to be an all too realistic animal skull. "It's kind of creepy."

"Aw, it ain't that creepy." Heiji reassured him, flashing him a wide grin. "Oi, old ladies! Ya here? I've got some business with ya!"

"Well, well!" Conan couldn't help but jump a little, pretty certain that the voice had come from immediately behind him. Slowly turning around, he realized that his instincts were right on the mark- but where had the crinkled looking old lady come from in the first place? Aside from her sudden appearance, however, she actually didn't look quite all that frightful- she had long, gray hair worn in a braid that was tossed over her shoulder, and seemed to have a pleasant expression on her face. She looked for all the world like any kindly old grandma you'd see anywhere. "If it isn't little Hei-chan! My, you've grown!"

"Ya say that every single time I come here." Heiji couldn't help but note, a slight tint of red on his cheeks from the 'little' part. "The last time I was here was just two weeks ago, even."

"But it's true!" Pivoting back around on his heel, Conan noted that another old woman had appeared behind him once again, her appearance identical to that of the one from before. Glancing between the pair, he quickly deduced that they were identical twins- but he couldn't help but notice that it was a little strange that even at their age, they were still wearing matching clothes. "You've grown so big since the first time we saw you, Hei-chan!"

"And my, my!" The first old lady crouched down in front of Conan, reaching out to cup his face in her withered hands. "What a cute little friend you've brought with you this time! This is the first time you've brought a guest to our shop, Hei-chan! My, my, my, what a cute little lad! A bit short for his age, though."

"Really, he's quite adorable!" The second old lady cooed in agreement, crouching down to take a good look at him as well. Out of the corner of his eye, Conan couldn't help but notice Heiji trying and failing to cover up his laughter at the way the old women fawned over him, and he silently vowed to get him back for this later somehow. "Who is this boy, Hei-chan? A good friend of yours, I take it!"

"Ah, yeah. That's Edogawa Conan." Heiji told them, mercifully not slipping up on his name for once. "Conan, these are the owners of this store, the Shimizu sisters, Mizuki and Misaki. Don't ask me which is which, cause I've never been able ta tell." He told him with a slight shrug, grinning nearly from ear to ear as one of the old ladies reached out to pinch Conan's cheeks.

"Edogawa Conan... what a fine name!" One of the old ladies cooed, before she reached into her pocket, pulling out a wrapped candy, placing it in his hand. "This is for you, Conan-kun. Don't spoil your dinner with it, now."

"Oh, good fer ya, Conan. Ya got a candy! Word of advice, save it fer when ya feel the need ta tell Neechan somethin' _real_ important." Heiji told him, reaching out to ruffle his hair, turning to speak to the old ladies before Conan could even inquire as to what that meant. "Anyways, do ya have my usual order ready?"

"Of course!" One of the Shimizu sisters nodded her head, and Conan found himself breathing in relief as they finally left him alone. The one who hadn't spoken ducked back into the shop, while her sister lingered behind. "Thank you as always for choosing our humble shop to patronize, Hei-chan! Thanks to you, business has been booming lately."

"Ah, don't worry about it. The two of ya really helped me out when I was a kid, after all." Heiji said, glancing around the shop. "By the way, Shimizu-han, have ya heard any strange rumors lately or anythin'? Like about someone takin' an interest in things that they shouldn't, or anythin' like that?"

"Now that you mention it, there was a strange young lady who managed to find our shop the other day." The old lady recalled, tilting her head to the side. "Of course, we didn't sell her anything. There was something in the aura that she gave off that told us she was trouble right away. If I recall, she was a young lady wearing a surgical mask..." Leaning her cheek into her hand, the old lady clearly seemed to struggle to recall anything else. "But I'm afraid I don't really remember all that much else about her, Hei-chan. After all, I am going on around one th-"

"Ah, that's fine, don't worry about it, Shimizu-han!" Heiji quickly spoke up, cutting her off. Casting a quick glance down towards Conan, he winced a little when he noticed the strange look his friend was giving him, before averting his gaze back towards the old woman. "Just knowin' that is enough fer me, thanks."

"Well if you say so, Hei-chan..." The old woman trailed off a little, frowning for only a moment longer before a pleased look crossed her face. "But you've really grown up nicely! I can still remember you from when you were around Conan-kun's age here, when you wandered into our shop for the first time... You really were so cute back then!"

His face turning a bright red color at the sudden change of topic, Heiji gave out a slightly awkward laugh, letting out almost a breath of relief when the other Shimizu sister returned from the back, carrying with her a wrapped bundle in her arms. "Oh, thank ya! I hope it wasn't too much trouble this time!"

"No, no, nothing is ever trouble if it's for someone like you, Hei-chan. I even added a few things extra in for your cute new student- bring her by here sometime, by all means!" The old woman replied, passing the bundle on to him. "But don't work yourself too hard now, you hear? You're still only just a child, after all. You need to remember to take care of yourself properly. The balance has managed just fine this long on it's own, you needn't feel that you have to fix every problem."

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'm takin' care of myself." Heiji reassured her, flashing her a quick grin. "Geez, you two worry about me more than my own grandma did."

"Well, we can't help it! You might have grown up, but you're still our cute little Hei-chan, after all! Ah, I still remember the times you would come into our shop crying your little eyes out... it feels like just yesterday." One of the old women insisted, reaching up to pinch him on the cheek. Out of the corner of his eye, Heiji caught the leering look that Conan cast towards him, barely hiding his own laughter now. "You bring that cute girlfriend of yours the next time you come here now, you hear? The two of us have been dying to meet her all this time!"

"She's not really my girlfriend yet..." Heiji mumbled underneath his breath, cheeks bright red as he averted his gaze from them. "Anyways, thanks as always fer this." Lifting up the bundle, he motioned with his head towards Conan, indicating that he should head on out. "I'll see the two of ya later. If ya remember somethin' about that woman, ya know how ta get in touch with me!"

With reassurances that they would, Heiji escorted Conan out of the store. Once the door shut behind them, Conan couldn't help but notice that it had gone back to being pitch black inside again. "You know some of the strangest people, Hattori." He said finally, glancing back up at him, unable to help but wonder exactly what was in that bundle. He had the feeling he wasn't going to find out.

"I really don't want ta hear that from _you_ , Kudo." Heiji noted, quirking a brow. "Ya know some pretty strange people yerself."

"Point taken." Conan admitted after a moment. "Anyways, what was that about back there? You were asking them about the case, weren't you? What connection does that store have to either of our suspects?"

"That too, is somethin' that ya don't need ta worry about, Kudo." Heiji told him simply, heading on down the street, leaving Conan to scramble to catch up with him again. "But I'm pretty certain our culprit B is Nakao-han."

"Well, I can't say that I don't agree with you there, but..." Trailing off, he glanced up towards his friend- before heaving an annoyed sigh. He was starting to know what that glint in his eyes meant. "You're not going to tell me, are you, Hattori?"

"Nope." Heiji said simply. "In any case, the two of us should lay a trap fer Nakao-han. Even with the police attention drawn towards her, I don't doubt that she'll try and attack someone again. Probably tonight, even. If she's worried that she'll be caught before long, all the more so."

"And as for culprit A?" Conan asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Like I said, I'll take care of culprit A." Heiji told him simply, before reaching into his pocket, pulling out his cellphone. "Anyways, if we're goin' ta set a trap fer Nakao-han, I have a good idea."

"Who are you calling?" Conan asked. That at least, he thought he would get a direct answer to.

With a somewhat evil looking glint in his eyes and a mischievous grin on his face, Heiji barely even hid his enthusiasm for this trap he'd thought of.

"I'm callin' Kazuha."  
_________________________________________________________________________

"Honestly, Heiji, don't ya know what time it is?" Kazuha grumbled as she picked up her phone, knowing right away from the ringtone that it was her childhood friend. "Don't tell me you've been runnin' around with Conan-kun all this time? Ran-chan's nearly at her wit's end over here, an' it's way past Conan-kun's bedtime!"

"Hm?" Blinking, Kazuha glanced back towards Ran, before giving a slow nod. "Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Eh?" Briefly turning pale, she let out a relieved breath after a moment, her color returning to normal. "Yeah, as long as they're not real, I can do that. It sounds fun, even. But where am I goin' ta get a costume like that at this time of night? Not to mention the-" There was a pause then, and one of Kazuha's eyebrows shot straight up. "No, ya know what? Honestly I'm not all that surprised. Ya own a lotta weird stuff, Heiji."

Finally hanging up her phone, Kazuha tucked it back away, glancing back towards Ran. "That was Heiji. Says he knows who the culprit is behind the Kuchisake-onna attacks, an' wants my help in tricking her."

"Then, it's not a real one?" Ran asked, a visible look of relief crossing her face. "But what kind of help does he want from you, Kazuha-chan? Ah, don't tell me-!"

"Yer right on the mark, Ran-chan." Kazuha nodded her head, not even needing Ran to finish that sentence. "He wants me to dress up as one ta give her a real good spook. Make her think a real one's appeared." With a mischievous grin on her face that matched that of her childhood friend's all too well, Kazuha reached up, pulling her ribbon out of her hair, letting it fall down around her shoulders. "Sounds kinda fun, if ya ask me."


	8. The Slit-Mouthed Woman Wears Clothes Dyed Bright Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the Kuchisake-onna case resolved, Conan can put his mind somewhat at ease and focus on unlocking the ever increasingly mysterious secrets surrounding his rival- something in which Heiji decides to lend him a slight helping hand in for once. Meanwhile, a certain witch is hatching a small plot of her own.

"Am I pretty?"

Just as Heiji had predicted, Nakao Aiko did indeed leave her home that evening, wearing a red coat, and carrying a bag that doubtlessly contained within it a long black wig. By sealing off one of the routes leading from her house by planting a large party of what the woman would be lead to believe were office workers drunkenly chatting away at one end of the street, it forced her to turn right- heading straight towards where Kazuha was waiting, concealed in a small side street.

Watching as the woman swallowed, almost not wanting to turn around, the fake Kuchisake-onna slowly turned on one heel, looking back towards the disguised Kazuha. There was genuine fear in her eyes- Kazuha couldn't help but note and vaguely found it curious- her next coming words would only cause that curiosity to grow. "C-come again?" Aiko asked, turning all the way around. "Is that you, Hirase-san?"

Following Heiji's instructions to the letter, Kazuha didn't answer her question, but instead repeated her own.

"Am I pretty?"

"Ah... ah." Taking a step back, Aiko glanced behind her, as if trying to see if there was anyone else around, perhaps, before a spark of inspiration struck her, leading her to dig into her pocket. Just vaguely, Kazuha could make out the gleam of a knife from within her coat, mentally going over the steps to counter said blade from any angle of approach, something which she was more than capable of. She doubted that the woman had any real training in regards to using knives to begin with, blocking the strike of an amateur was a simple matter. "You... ah, that's right! I have some candy right here, Hirase-san! Why don't you take it?"

Taking a step forward, her voice growing all the more insistent, Kazuha couldn't help but get into the act a little. It was kind of fun, even. "Am I pretty?" She repeated once more, taking another step closer.

"Y-you don't want candy?" Aiko asked, befuddled by this development, her hand briefly lingering over where her knife was- though she seemed hesitant to use it, as if she wasn't quite certain it would work. "T-then, I'm afraid I've got somewhere else to be right now, so I really must depart!"

_"Am I pretty?"_

" _Yes_!" Aiko blurted out, her eyes going wide, as if she instantly regretted her words. She was already pretty pale to begin with, but the color drained almost entirely from her face, especially as Kazuha reached out, yanking off her mask in one quick motion.

"How about _now_?"

The knife that Aiko had grasped all but clattered to the ground as the mask came off, her eyes going wide in blind panic- especially as Kazuha reached into her own jacket. There was nothing there of course, but the woman didn't know that- and her first instinct, as it turned out, was to make a break for it, straight back towards her house, not even daring to so much as look behind her, heading back towards where she already knew people were.

Watching her go with a small frown of confusion on her face, Kazuha wondered exactly what the woman had seen. All Heiji had done was hand her the mask- as much as he'd said to leave the matter of dealing with her Kuchisake-onna makeup to him, he hadn't actually _done_ anything to her face. Granted, she'd had the strangest feeling ever since she put on the surgical mask that he had given her that something felt _off_ about her face, but he had quickly reassured her, telling her not to worry about it.

Still...

"Whoa there." Heiji spoke up, almost popping out of seemingly nowhere, reaching out to take the hand Kazuha had been about to touch her face with. If she wasn't already used to his sudden appearances, she might have given a start, but he'd been doing this sort of thing since around middle school, at the very least. "It's probably better if ya don't do that, Kazuha. Give me just a second."

As she tried to speak up, Heiji simply placed a hand over her lips in a shushing motion. For a brief second, Kazuha thought she saw sparks at the edge of her vision, and then the strange feeling in her face went away. Shoving Heiji's hand away from her lips, Kazuha reached up to touch her mouth- to find that nothing was wrong with it at all.

"What did ya even do, Heiji?" Kazuha asked, working her mouth with a frown, casting a skeptical look towards her childhood friend as she pulled off her wig. She wasn't an idiot- she didn't miss the fact that somehow, he'd done _something_ , even if she didn't quite understand the how of it. "That woman was scared out of her mind. She even dropped her knife."

"Ya didn't touch it, did ya? That might be evidence, Kazuha." Heiji noted, reaching into his pocket to pull out his handkerchief, only picking up the knife when the cloth separated his hand from it. She couldn't help how he basically ignored her question in favor of asking one of his own, but she decided to let it go for the moment. He _had_ promised to talk to her, after all, and she believed he'd fulfill it.

"Idiot, of course I didn't. I know that much." Kazuha said, planting her hands on her hips. "Anyways, are ya sure this plan'll work?"

"Of course it will! There are some nice police officers waitin' at the end of the street ta hear all about the _scary_ Kuchisake-onna poor Nakao-han ran into down here! An' I'm pretty sure she'll blurt out somethin' she probably shouldn't say out loud while she's at it, if my theory's right." Heiji said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "An' then she'll probably try an' stab my old man."

"Did a dream tell ya that?" Kazuha asked, quirking a brow, before snorting. "Well, that's _definitely_ not gonna work out real well for Nakao-san, is it? An' who was that Hirase-san she kept thinkin' I was anyways? Wasn't I supposed ta be disguisin' as a Kuchisake-onna here?"

"Well, probably to Nakao-han, they're one an' the same." Heiji told her with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I'll be honest here, Heiji, the one thing about ya I _didn't_ miss from elementary school was when ya got all weirdly cryptic like that." Kazuha noted, glancing over towards him, giving him a rather blank look. "Yer gonna tell me all about it eventually, right? The reason of yers as to why ya could always see things that everyone else couldn't."

"I promised, didn't I?" Heiji said, a mock look of offense crossing his face. "Don't worry, don't worry, Kazuha. I promise you'll be the first person that I _tell_ everythin' to. Unless Kudo figures it out first which is," He snorted. "...doubtful."

"What's Kudo-kun got ta do with anythin'?" Kazuha asked, reaching up to pull off the cap that she had used to tuck her hair into, shaking it out. "Nah, ya know what? Nevermind. I really don't care all that much. Anyways, it looks like Otaki-han's on his way over. I'm guessin' they probably arrested Nakao-san by now."

"In that case, we should probably go join them." Heiji noted, flashing her a grin. "Here." Pulling her ribbon out of his pocket where he'd kept it for her, he traded it for the red raincoat that she took off, passing over towards him. Tying the ribbon back into place, Kazuha quickly hurried to meet up with Otaki, who quickly informed them that Nakao Aiko had been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping Hirase Yumiko- although he admitted with a befuddled look, the things she was saying about the kidnapped woman pretty much made no sense.

To everyone besides Heiji, that was.  
________________________________________________________________

"Huh?" Glancing around him, Conan frowned in confusion. Reaching up to tug on Kazuha's sleeve to get her attention, he turned his gaze towards where Heiji had definitely just been a second before- but was now nowhere to be seen. "Hey, Kazuha-neechan? Where's Heiji-niichan?"

"Isn't he just right...?" Kazuha began, glancing behind her, before trailing off with a long sigh. "Nope, he's not." She said, answering her own question. "Sorry, Conan-kun. It looks like Heiji had somethin' of his own ta do. He disappears like this sometimes."

"He does?" Conan asked, blinking a little, searching for any traces of the Osakan detective. How had he gotten so far away from them so fast? It was like he had just vanished in the blink of an eye. "That's too bad! I wanted to talk to Heiji-niichan more about this case!"

There was still the matter of finding the missing Hirase Yumiko, after all. Conan could only pray that she was still alive- the things that Aiko was saying about her simply made no sense to him. She seemed to be pretty convinced that Yumiko was after her, so much so that she let it slip in her panicked tirade that she was responsible for making her disappear in the first place. When she had realized what she had said, she'd pulled out a knife from her jacket- her second, judging from the one that Heiji had brought back with him- and had attempted to lash out with it in a panic, something which had quickly been stopped by Heizo in one, swift motion.

After that, she all but seemed to break down completely, giving into a mixture of paranoia and fear, sinking to her knees, muttering underneath her breath about how the Kuchisake-onna was going to get her, how it was going to come after her, how she regretted making Hirase-san into one, how she didn't know that something like this was going to happen as a result of it.

And somewhere in the process of this, Heiji had disappeared.

_"Don't worry yer pretty little head over culprit A, Kudo. That's **my** job."_

Whatever Heiji's secret was, Conan was only now truly realizing that the scale of it was probably far larger than he could have ever first suspected.

With that in mind, he couldn't help but shake the feeling that Heiji had been more involved with bringing that mysterious child abduction case to a close than he had at first suspected. The curious words of the puppetmaster, his sheer alarm and panicked reaction to seeing Heiji there still stuck with Conan. He'd have to question Ayumi about it closer later- he got the distinct feeling that she knew something about it that she wasn't telling him.

At any rate, all he could do now was wait, and put his faith in Heiji. He had, after all, assured him that he was very good at his job.

Whatever it was that job was. He had a distinct feeling that he _hadn't_ been speaking of detective work.

"Hey, Kazuha-neechan." Conan spoke up, peering up at her. To be frank, he wasn't quite certain what was prompting this question- other than some kind of basic hunch. "Heiji-niichan's not quite like us, is he?"

Blinking a little at the unexpected question, Kazuha eventually gave him a small smile, kneeling down in front of Conan and lightly ruffling his hair. "I suppose not. But that's okay, isn't it? Heiji's just Heiji, after all."

"Yeah!" With a bright smile on his face, Conan nodded his head. "Because I like Heiji-niichan!"

"Well, what a coincidence." Kazuha said, her smile growing. "I rather like him myself."  
__________________________________________________________

"Am I pretty?"

"Yer gorgeous, but tragically, my heart is already occupied by someone real important ta me, so I'm afraid it could never work out between us."

The deviation from the usual response pattern seemed to briefly throw the Kuchisake-onna for a loop, leaving the pale skinned woman with her long, stringy black hair, to simply blink, her hand hovering on the edge of her surgical mask, briefly uncertain if she'd been cued to remove it or not.

"C'mon now, there's no need ta doubt yer own beauty. Ya don't need ta run around an' ask random strangers fer their opinion like ya are." Heiji told the walking urban legend, flashing her a quick grin, before reaching out and pulling off her mask himself, letting out a low whistle at the face that was practically split apart at the jaw, thoroughly confusing the monster woman all the more.

The great thing about dealing with Kuchisake-onna was that if you broke their response pattern, they generally had a hard time recovering. All urban legends of this sort were like that, really. _Especially_ one that had been so artificially created as this.

Where the hell Nakao Aiko had been able to find black magic like this in his city was something he was going to _thoroughly_ look into the moment he got the chance. If there really was someone who had the audacity to deal with such underhanded forms of magic in his city, passing such incantations freely out to those who wanted to use them for foul intentions, then they had to be either completely ignorant, or just plain stupid- but either way, Heiji was going to put a swift stop to it.

There were _rules_ to the world on this side of the veil- and it was very much his job to enforce said rules- and to bring punishment to those who dared violate them.

Thankfully, it didn't seem as if Hirase Yumiko was too far gone to save, judging from the way the spell twisted about her body, having not quite taken root inside of it. A day or two later, and it might have been too late, even for him. Perhaps it was for the best that Aiko hadn't been satisfied with creating a monster to spread a panic throughout the city, all so that she could create more victims like herself. Otherwise he might have noticed too late.

As the monster woman snapped to some form of awareness, and pulled out her knife, Heiji quickly disarmed her, tossing the blood encrusted weapon away. "Now, now, just stay still, Hirase-han, an' I'll deal with that pain in the ass spell ya got weavin' around ya." Thrusting a hand forward, he placed it on the woman's forehead, watching as the monster woman withered underneath his grip, but otherwise found herself unable to move.

With a swift tug, coiled darkness emerged from the woman, somehow managing to stand out even in the pitch black street. Catching the fainting woman with his other hand, Heiji yanked the rest of it right out, watching as it withered and struggled, as if attempting to take over himself next- before it slowly faded away, vanishing into almost nothing. Heiji's eyes briefly flickering black, he blinked it away, his eyes quickly returning to their normal blue color.

Something of that level was no match for him, after all.

"Now, what ta do with you." Heiji said, glancing down at the fainted woman propped up by his arm. Carefully scooping her up in both of them, he paused briefly to pick up her dropped weapon- he couldn't just leave _that_ lying around. Pausing to glance down at the woman's face, her appearance having shifted back to that of her own, he blinked, giving her a slight smile. "See now? Yer perfectly pretty, scars an' all. Ya could bag yerself any dude ya wanted, or any lady fer that matter, if yer into that."

"Honestly. If that Nakao-han was just goin' ta run around an' attack people anyways, she might have just used the spell on herself, not gotten someone else mixed up in her misplaced revenge." Heiji mumbled to himself, heaving a long sigh. Too much of a coward to turn herself into a monster, he guessed, she'd rather force someone else to bear that fate. That type was the worst.

For the moment, he had the more _immediate_ matter at hand to deal with. Once Hirase Yumiko was somewhere safe, and her weapon- with her prints and the blood of the first two victims still on it- made to disappear where nobody could find it, the matter would be closed, at least in so far as Heiji was concerned. There was no reason to hold her accountable for actions that had been taken when she wasn't in control of herself. Seeing as it was Aiko who was the one to manipulate and twist Yumiko in such a fashion, then Aiko should bear the burden of those first two attacks as well.

His job was over, for the time being. It was up to his father now to deal with the rest- the more _normal_ aspects of this case.  
__________________________________________________________________

"Does one of the mysteries I have to solve about you include how you can wake up so insufferably early even after going to bed later than anyone else?"

Glancing across the breakfast table, Heiji flashed Conan a smile, watching as the still half asleep not-child sat down across from him, giving him a bleary eyed look. Heiji had been awake himself for about two hours now, and had long since changed and gotten ready for the day, after taking a nice morning jog and practicing his form in the yard.

"It's not _entirely_ unrelated." Heiji said after a moment. His main source of energy was considerably different from most, after all. "Nice bed head by the way, Kudo."

"Shut up." Conan grumbled. At the very least, they were alone for the moment, the others having all woken up before him. There was another day in Osaka ahead of them, one that Ran was very much looking forward to now that the threat of the Kuchisake-onna was no more.

Conan had only barely noticed Heiji slip back into his room around three in the morning, but had been too tired to do anything at the time. It wasn't like his friend was going anywhere, this was his own house after all. He could just speak with him in the morning, during decent hours, when Conan actually _wanted_ to be awake and dealing with his sometimes far too chipper friend.

Although, Conan thought to himself, perhaps he should allow Heiji his overly friendly and cheerful nature without complaint, given what he'd learned about his childhood. He got a sense that Heiji was the very definition of the phrase 'fake it until you make it', and what had probably started as an elaborate act that he began putting on around middle school had ended up becoming his genuine personality.

It was hard to begrudge Heiji his cheerfulness in light of that- although Conan still wished he didn't start with it _so damn early_ in the morning.

"You disappeared last night." Conan noted, reaching out to grab the box of cereal that had been left out on the table, dumping it into his bowl. Gratefully accepting the carton of milk that Heiji handed him, he dumped some of that in as well.

"So I did." Heiji observed, flashing his friend a grin. "I had some things ta take care of on my end."

"And did you take care of them?" Conan asked, briefly sparing him a glance.

"I did." With a nod of his head, Heiji rose to his feet. "Well, let's put all that behind us an' try an' have a good time durin' you an' Neechan's last day here. Any place ya wanted ta go?"

"I was going to leave that up to Ran. She's the one who looks up those sorts of things to begin with." Conan noted, taking a bit out of his cereal. "You know I'm not going to stop until I find out the whole truth, Hattori."

"I know. I wouldn't expect any less from ya, Kudo. That's why I cast the challenge down ta ya in the first place." Heiji noted, grabbing the milk carton from the table and heading to put it back in the fridge. "If yer really goin' ta dive into it headfirst, ya'd better be prepared fer dealin' with some stuff that yer not gonna like though, Kudo."

"I don't think it could get any more weird than prophetic dreams." Conan noted sourly, grumbling over how he'd basically been forced to accept that such a thing was actually possible. Upon hearing Heiji snort, Conan glanced up at him, narrowing his eyes. "It will, won't it?"

"Oh yeah." The wide grin on Heiji's face carried with it a distinct hint of mischief- some part of him was clearly enjoying this. "It's gonna get a hell of a lot weirder."  
________________________________________________________

Conan was almost entirely unsurprised at this point when he heard word that the missing Hirase Yumiko had turned up on her doorstep early that morning, with no memories of how she had gotten there, and where she had been for the past day or so. When she was asked about Nakao Aiko, she apparently confirmed that she did in fact know the woman, happily informing the officers that she had finally been able to make a friend with someone who fully understood what she was going through.

She didn't seem to have any knowledge of the Kuchisake-onna attacks at all, and for the moment, she hadn't been told about Aiko's connection to them. Perhaps that was for the best- considering that the older woman had used the lure of a friendship and the promise of understanding to draw her in in the first place, perhaps Yumiko would be better off never remembering what had happened.

With the Kuchisake-onna case more or less wrapped up for the time being, the quartet was finally free to enjoy Osaka- and this time, they managed to do so without running into any cases, having apparently fulfilled some kind of quota. At the very least, nobody had died this time, which was a refreshing change- but the girls that had been attacked would be left with unfading scars for the rest of their lives. It was hard to say that everything had ended well, with that in mind.

Conan couldn't help but find himself watching Heiji throughout the day, carefully studying the Osakan. Sometimes Heiji caught him doing it out of the corner of his eye, quickly flashing him that characteristic grin of his- and Conan would merely heave a sigh, returning his smile somewhat. Whatever the truth was, he doubted that it would ultimately alter their relationship all that much. The fact that the two of them had wound up becoming best friends was something that wouldn't change, even as Conan's understanding of his rival shifted as it deepened.

The one thing Conan had managed to remember to do amidst all of this was look up what he had wanted to earlier- to search for anything in the newspaper that looked as if it were about Heiji's supposed disappearance. The fact that he had no photographs at all from sixth grade had cemented his earlier theory that this supposed disappearance had occurred during that time period- and with that information in mind, he was able to narrow things down, bringing up a promising result.

Eyes narrowing as he scanned the article that he had brought up on his phone- it turned out the local newspaper here had an extensive online archive, making his job all the easier, Conan felt as if he understood now the depth of feeling that just discussing that time period had brought up in Kazuha. He hadn't known what to expect when he began looking- perhaps that Heiji had gone missing for a few days, perhaps even a week, a month on the long side.

Not for _half a year_.

No wonder there were no sixth grade pictures- Heiji hadn't even been around for most of it. It was probably only due to the effort of his parents that he had been allowed to move up a grade normally, entering middle school alongside Kazuha.

Apparently it had been quite the sensation at the time, and even though the name of the missing boy had never been published- probably Heizo's work, Conan imagined- it was clear as day to him that the articles surrounding it were about Heiji. It was no small wonder it had turned into something of a media frenzy- the fact that a boy who had mysteriously vanished half a year ago had just as mysteriously turned back up, with no obvious traces of harm or malnutrition, and apparently no memories of the time during which he was missing, was exactly the kind of thing that would set something like that off. Add in the fact that the police were being very tight with details regarding the case, and it was basically the perfect storm.

Well, eventually the media had lost interest, Conan determined as he shifted through the online archive. Glancing up at Heiji, he caught the Osakan detective looking at him, and quickly tucked his phone back away.

Whatever the reason was behind Heiji's disappearance, Conan got the feeling that the claim he had made back then of not having any memories of the half year he'd spent missing was a total lie.

_"Back then, when you disappeared, you were able to find some kind of answer, weren't ya?"_

An answer that Conan was growing more and more interested in finding out himself, he thought. Which was exactly the line of thinking that lead him to follow Heiji after he slipped out of his room in the middle of his night, after changing back into his street clothes. Hurriedly pulling on his own, Conan managed to catch Heiji just as he turned the street corner, and darted after him, grateful that he hadn't vanished into thin air like he'd half expected him to when he turned the corner.

Halfway through, Conan knew that Heiji was fully aware that he was following him- and if he wasn't wrong, he was pretty certain that his friend was trying to lead him somewhere. Brows furrowing in thought, Conan nevertheless kept pace with him, as they wound their way through the streets of Osaka, taking side streets and pathways that Conan half wasn't certain actually existed once he'd finished passing through them, not chancing looking back, too worried that he'd become completely lost if he so much as lost sight of Heiji.

Something which the Osakan didn't allow him to do, at the very least.

Before he knew it, they had put the city behind them entirely- which was strange. Judging from the fact that he wasn't the least bit winded, Conan felt as if they hadn't actually walked that far- but it almost seemed as if there were miles between them and the brilliantly lit city of Osaka now. Growing slightly worried that he might have trouble getting back to Heiji's place, he resolved that the only thing he could do now was to finish following him to wherever it was Heiji was leading him.

Deep into a forest, it seemed.

It carried a strange feeling with it- and although there was a mysterious air to this place, it strangely put Conan's heart at ease. There was almost something inviting about the dark forest, as if it were welcoming him, rejoicing in the fact that he was here. Just outside of his line of vision, flickers of light danced, perhaps from lanterns, he thought, hung on distant tree branches that he couldn't quite make out.

Before he realized it, Conan began to ascend steps, that looked as if they had formed out of the very earth itself. He lost sight of Heiji at some point, after he passed through the first torii gate, it's red paint having faded with age, towering above his small form. They seemed to expand on endlessly in front of him, creating a path that could even be seen in the dark, illuminated by the moon that peeked in through the trees overhead, and the dancing lights in the distance.

When Conan finally reached the top of the stairs, passing through the final torii gate, the moon broke fully through the trees, shining it's light down on the structure at the top of the long pathway- or what remained of it. Long since fallen into ruin, Conan could guess that it had once been a traditional Japanese style manor, probably three times the size of Heiji's own home. Only ruins of it remained now, but the place itself was probably extremely old- as if it had been here, sleeping quietly, for generations.

Vaguely, Conan thought he felt eyes on him- curious ones, watching him from some place that he couldn't quite see. Strangely, it didn't put him ill at ease- ever since he'd begun dealing with the Black Organization in earnest, eyes watching him from a distance had always filled him with a sense of paranoia. But there was no malevolence in these gazes, only pure curiosity- a strange sense of fondness, even.

"I was born here, ya know." Heiji spoke up, and Conan couldn't find it in him to question when he'd gotten next to him.

"Shizuka-san gave birth to you here?" Conan asked, almost not understanding the information he'd been told. It would have made more sense if it didn't look like the place had been a ruin for generations upon generations, but there was no way this place had been still standing over seventeen years ago, when Heiji would have been born.

"Of course not, idiot." Heiji told him, casting him a look. "This is just where she picked me up."

"Then, you're-?" Conan began, quickly connecting the dots, watching as Heiji nodded his head. "Well, honestly, that _does_ make sense. You don't really resemble either of your parents all that much. I'd been speculating as much myself already. But you're saying Shizuka-san picked you up _here_ , of all places?"

"That's right." Heiji told him, a strangely fond expression in his eyes as he fixed his gaze on the ruins in front of him. "Well, although if ya asked her about it, she wouldn't be able ta remember a thing. This place called out ta her."

"Why are you showing me this place?" Conan asked, casting a skeptical glance up towards him.

"Because it's a piece of the puzzle, and ya'd never be able ta find it on yer own." Heiji said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "I thought I would be fair. It's part of the reason I called ya down to Osaka in the first place."

"Ah." Conan said simply. "If Shizuka-san doesn't remember where she picked you up in the first place, how do you know you were born in this place, Hattori?"

"I was called here." Heiji replied simply, taking a step forward, masking his expression from the shrunken detective. "After that incident, I just wanted ta disappear from the world, an' that's when I found this place. You were lookin' it up this afternoon, weren't ya? That time when I went missin'."

"So you _do_ remember what happened." Conan noted, quirking a brow, before heaving a sigh. "So you're saying you lived in these ruins for half a year?"

"You see 'em as ruins, huh?" Heiji asked, briefly glancing back at him, a hint of a smile on his face. "Well, I guess that's ta be expected. Once ya figure the rest out, Kudo, I'll show ya this place in it's full glory. But sorry, it's still Kazuha who gets first dibs on that."

Heaving a long, exasperated sigh, Conan could only rub his forehead, feeling as if there was a headache coming on. Still there was one thing of note out of all of this, he thought, as he turned his full attention back up towards Heiji. "I'm glad though, Hattori. That you didn't choose to stay in this place."

"Well, I missed my family. An' Kazuha." Heiji said simply, the hint of a smile growing into a full blown one. "An' there were things about myself that I finally came ta understand here, that made it easier fer me ta go back, an' try an' start everythin' over."

"You're really _not_ like me, are you, Hattori?" Conan asked. "I don't understand _why_ yet, but you're... different. There's something about you that's completely different."

"I'm similar." Heiji said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "That's all that really matters."

Conan didn't have much of a chance to question that, before he found a strange sensation tugging at his mind. Even though he was certain his eyes hadn't been closed, he still managed to open them, the scenery before them changing in an instant. It took him a moment to process where he found himself now- before he realized he was staring up at the ceiling of Heiji's room, Ran's face peering down at him, lightly telling him that he needed to wake up already, because they had a train to catch.

Sitting upright, slowly blinking off traces of sleep, he cast his eyes in Heiji's direction, who was watching him with a rather amused grin.  
__________________________________________________________

"So," Kuroba Kaito began, his gaze flickering slightly towards the witch who stood to his side, a touch of amusement on her features. "Do you want to tell me how exactly you know Hattori Heiji, Akako?"

"My, whatever do you mean?" Akako asked, not even trying to conceal her knowing grin. "Where on earth would have simple Kuroba-kun ever gotten such an impression?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Akako." Kaito said, fully turning his gaze on her. Whether it was by coincidence or by the witch's design that he had run into her this afternoon, he wasn't going to pass up this chance to discuss certain matters with her. While he wouldn't say the Dragon's Egg heist was a failure- he had indeed, taken the egg as he had promised, the fact still remained that he hadn't been able to return it afterwards, and that it was a tarnish on his otherwise perfect record as Kaito Kid.

Naturally, the media jumped all over it. He'd sent in a notice to police headquarters just in case to clarify that he had nothing to do with the thefts of the other jeweled eggs, and thankfully, it appeared that Inspector Nakamori was willing to take him at his word, at the very least in regards to this.

Kaito had a pretty good idea in regards to _who_ was responsible for it- but there was no way he could prove that the one behind it was none other than the famed high school detective of the west, Hattori Heiji. Frankly, he still found it a little hard to believe, even if it was the likeliest answer to the question at hand. _Especially_ after the conversation that he'd overheard just before the heist between the detective and the witch- a rather odd combination indeed.

"Oh, is the great Kaito Kid licking his wounds after getting his prize stolen from underneath him?" Akako asked, placing a hand to her lips, badly masking her amused smile, a sly expression in her eyes. "How very amusing. I can't say that I dislike this side of you, Kuroba-kun."

"I wouldn't know anything about what Kid is doing." Kaito said sharply, sending her a slight glower. "I'm being serious here, Akako. How do you and Hattori-kun know each other? The two of you seemed to be on awfully familiar terms. Are you friends?"

"Hardly!" Akako snorted, half looking offended at the mere suggestion. "If anything, he and I are natural enemies, not unlike you and myself. More so, perhaps. I imagine Hattori-kun would tell you very much the same, though quite a good deal more rudely. Well, that said, from time to time we do forge something resembling an alliance when needed, on the odd times we can find a common interest between us. He's quite a fascinating creature, so I wouldn't say I entirely dislike him."

_Creature?_ Now that was just plain _rude_. Kaito couldn't help but think, casting a skeptical look towards Akako, narrowing his eyes. "What's a guardian?"

"If you need help with your English homework, you're far better served by asking Hakuba-kun, and not myself." Akako observed, dancing around his question. "I'm afraid I'm not quite at the liberty to say, Kuroba-kun. Otherwise there's any number of things I would have told Hakuba-kun quite some time ago."

When Hakuba Saguru had returned to school with a tale of his encounter with Hattori Heiji on his lips, Akako had been endlessly amused. She always felt that the two of them were destined to cross paths at one point, but even she hadn't expected the way their differing personalities had clashed so heavily. In fact, she'd been looking for a way ever since then to ensure that the two of them crossed paths again- and if she wasn't mistaken, a way had just opened up in front of her.

"If you're that curious about him, why don't you come with me, Kuroba-kun?" Akako asked after a moment, not even attempting to conceal the sly glint to her eyes. "As fate would have it, I'm about to meet him in regards to a certain matter I'd like for him to resolve for me."

So it _was_ by Akako's design that he'd crossed paths with her today, Kaito thought to himself. As usual, he got the feeling that the witch was up to no good. "Oh? And what exactly is it that a witch needs to hire a detective for?"

"I have no need for a detective." Akako said simply, a coy smile on her lips as she turned to face him. "Although I suppose Hattori-kun's deductive skills will be a boon in this case. But rather, what I'm hiring him for is a matter dealing with his true nature. Are you curious, Kuroba-kun? You certainly aren't alone in that matter."

Recalling the curious child that had approached her at the Dragon's Egg heist, Akako felt as if she would extend her invitation towards the one known as the Kid Killer herself. She knew full well that he was on good terms with Heiji- and was also completely unwitting as to what the true nature of his friend was. And if her predictions were correct, then something would soon happen that would more than fall under the purview of the child that wasn't at all a child.

"You're planning something, aren't you?" Kaito asked, merely quirking a brow.

"Why, whatever would you mean by that, Kuroba-kun? I'm simply a harmless high school girl, after all." Akako said simply, taking a step forward, lingering for a moment by his side. "Are you coming? He's the awfully impatient sort, and I've already kept him waiting for around an hour."

"Do you _enjoy_ antagonizing everyone you know?" Kaito couldn't help but ask, glancing down at her.

"I have simply no idea what you could _possibly_ mean, Kuroba-kun." Akako said lightly. "I merely got held up with speaking to you. It certainly wasn't my _intention_ to keep him waiting for an entire hour after we were originally supposed to meet."

"I'm sure you didn't." Sarcasm practically dripped off of his words, as he turned on his heel, falling into step beside the witch who had already started walking ahead without him. He couldn't help but admit that she was right- he was curious about the western high school detective. There was no way he wouldn't be after he'd pulled of a trick like that- no matter how much Kaito tried to puzzle it out in his head, he still couldn't figure out how it had been done.

Then again, if he had anything to do with Akako, as it seemed that he did, he might actually be more towards _her_ side of magic than Kaito's own. Which, quite honestly, was information he didn't quite know what to do with, but nevertheless found intriguing.

Perhaps going to meet with one of the famed high school detectives as Kuroba Kaito was not one of his better moves- and if Hattori Heiji was more interested in him, he might reconsider it. It was only the fact that the Osakan detective appeared relatively uninterested in the likes of Kaito Kid that made him even _consider_ doing so.

He wouldn't, for example, purposefully show his real face in front of the likes of Edogawa Conan. That would just be _asking_ for trouble. He had enough problems just handling _Hakuba_ as it was already. And however close it seemed Heiji was to the pint sized detective child, there was no reason to suspect that he'd wind up meeting Conan just by accompanying Akako to go talk with him.

Right?

In hindsight, he really should have known better.


	9. Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Stop Abducting People Already

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A witch hatches a scheme that places three detectives and one phantom thief together in a haunted house- alongside the cast and crew of a notorious ghost hunting show. Clearly, nothing good can come out of this, especially not when potentially cursed mirrors and evil spirits are involved.

"Who's the doppelganger?"

Those were the first words out of Hattori Heiji's mouth, as he cast a disinterested glance up towards Kaito- and frankly, Kaito couldn't think of a more befuddling greeting.

"Come now, Hattori-kun, Kuroba-kun is hardly a doppelganger. Does he resemble someone you know?" Akako asked, effortlessly sliding into the booth across from him. As usual, she had become the focus of the male gaze ever since she had entered the cafe. Merely being in the same booth as her caused those same men to all but glower towards the two teenage boys, something which they both decided to ignore.

"I'm Kuroba Kaito. I'm classmate of Akako's." Kaito said after a moment, his poker face the only thing keeping his smile from being strained, as he offered a hand for Heiji to shake. "I assure you, I'm definitely no doppelganger."

"Least as far as ya know." Heiji remarked, nevertheless taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. "Hattori Heiji. Does this guy have anythin' ta do with what ya called me here fer, Koizumi?"

"I simply ran into him by chance." Akako observed smoothly, a coy grin on her features. "I thought that I would invite him along for some coffee. Isn't that right, Kuroba-kun?"

Heaving a long sigh, Heiji flicked his gaze over towards Kaito, looking him up and down, watching as he took a seat next to Akako. He couldn't help but notice the fact that he wasn't fawning all over the witch- which was something rare, to say the least. Even _Kudo_ appeared to be a little smitten with her, in spite of his shrunken state. Himself aside, Akako's charm seemed to work pretty soundly on most men, so he couldn't help but be more than a little curious about why the one whose face was too close to Kudo's for his liking was seemingly impervious to it. Either he was flat out uninterested in woman to begin with, or there was something more to him.

That witch was obviously planning something, though quite frankly, when was she ever _not_? 'Ran into by chance', his foot. She'd brought this guy here for a reason, of that Heiji had no doubt.

Still, whatever it was, it didn't appear is if Kaito himself had any knowledge of whatever Akako's plot might be- rather, he guessed that Akako was stringing the guy along just as much as she was him. She had an awful lot of nerve, calling him out here like this and then making him wait for over an hour past their meeting time, but he'd more than gotten used to such behavior from the red witch. Finally turning his gaze back towards Akako, he sent a sharp look in her direction. "An'? How freely can I speak with Kuroba-han here lingerin' around?"

"As freely as you like, Hattori-kun. **We can even use tongues, if you prefer.** " Akako said simply, her amusement as clear as day in her eyes, watching as Kaito visibly startled as her words suddenly became completely incomprehensible to him halfway through. Switching back to plain Japanese, she continued to smile. "He's already quite aware of your reputation as a detective. After all, we _are_ both classmates with Hakuba Saguru."

"Oh, _that_ asshole." Heiji grumbled, watching as Kaito snorted into one hand. Quirking an eyebrow, Heiji glanced back over towards him, getting the feeling that this guy might very well not be all that bad, in spite of being associated with the likes of Koizumi Akako. "Well, whatever. Ya know I don't like bein' called out by ya in the first place, Koizumi, so whatever it is that ya want from me all of a sudden, ya might as well get straight to the point."

"My, my, so uncouth." Akako observed, letting out a slight laugh, before she reached into her purse, pulling out a photograph. "I want you to retrieve an item for me, Hattori-kun. I believe the matters that pertain to it also fall within your line of duty, so you should thank me for informing you of this matter."

"A mirror?" Heiji asked, glancing down at the photo. It was of a rather antique looking full-length mirror, it's silver frame having already started to tint darker and darker with age, making the cherubim worked into the metal of the frame appear almost sinister. Even from just a photograph, it gave him a bad vibe. "If it's just obtaining a mirror, ya should be able ta do that much yerself, Koizumi. What's so special about this one that ya need ta ask me ta get it fer ya?"

And, after a slight pause. "An' what makes ya think that I will, anyways? We're not exactly friends, ya know."

"As payment for alerting you to this case." Akako said simply, a placid smile on her face. "It's rumored that this mirror is haunted. It's said that those who come in contact with the mirror disappear, and when they return, it's almost as if they've become a different person. I'm sure you know what that means, Hattori-kun."

Judging from the disgruntled click of his tongue, it was obvious to Kaito that Heiji knew full well what the witch was speaking of- even if he himself was somewhat in the dark. Certainly, mysterious disappearances would be right up a detective's alley, but Akako had specifically told him that she wasn't interested in hiring a detective, and somehow he got the impression that there was something more to this case. Watching as Heiji tucked the photograph away in his pocket, the Osakan detective let out an irritated sigh, turning that sharp gaze of his back towards Akako.

"I'll look into the matter at least. Yer right, though I'm loathe ta admit that, this _is_ somethin' that falls within my jurisdiction." Heiji said, briefly casting a glance towards Kaito as he said that, before turning his full attention back towards Akako. Kaito couldn't help but feel like he was choosing his phrasing very carefully. "I can't promise ya that I'll bring ya the mirror though, Koizumi, or that it'll even still be intact once I'm done."

"That's quite alright. Even the mirror's fragments would prove quite useful to me." Akako noted simply.

"Ya know this girl's bad news, right?" Heiji asked after a moment, directing the question towards Kaito. "Ya really shouldn't hang out with her that much, Kuroba-han."

"Don't worry, I know that much." Kaito readily replied. At the very least, he'd been able to establish that Akako's earlier claim of not being on the best of terms with the detective of the west was true, if nothing else. And if he didn't miss his guess, Heiji also knew full well that the girl was a witch. He could also gather the impression that they'd known each other for some time now. "How did the two of you meet, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It was back in middle school." Heiji replied shortly, seemingly leaving it at that. "It's not a story worth repeatin'."

"You certainly caused me a lot of trouble back then, Hattori-kun." Akako told him, a vague hint of irritation crossing her otherwise collected demeanor. "Especially since I was _quite_ certain that your kind was long since extinct."

" _Koizumi_." Heiji's tone was sharp, as he glowered at the witch, sending her a silent threat to not say another word. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Kaito blinked slightly, glancing between the two in what appeared to be mild confusion, before the Osakan detective let out a long sigh, turning his attention back towards him. "Don't worry about anythin' she says, Kuroba-han. She likes ta be as cryptic as she possibly can."

"You're honestly not that much better than me sometimes, Hattori-kun." Akako noted, an amused smirk appearing on her face, letting him know that her earlier slip-up had been _quite_ deliberate.

As confusing as the exchange between the two of them could be at times, it was nevertheless somewhat amusing, Kaito had to admit, glancing between the witch and the detective. The mutual dislike the two of them had for each other was as clear as day, as much as they both seemed to be resolved to put up with the other. He'd always heard that the detective of the west was the hotblooded, temperamental type- namely from Hakuba, now that he thought about it- and that much quickly became clear to him from the way he interacted with Akako, sometimes looking as if he was just barely holding it together around her.

"Come to think of it, Hattori-kun, I guess you know Hakuba, don't you?" Kaito asked, almost not certain what spurred the question on. "Given the way you reacted to his name earlier." He felt it best _not_ to mention the time that Hakuba had returned to his school with tales of his encounter with the famed detective of the west on his lips. He wasn't certain how Heiji would take the news that the half-British detective had been talking about him behind his back, but he couldn't imagine that it would be pretty.

"I met 'im, once." Heiji noted, quirking a brow. "That was enough. Ya say yer his classmates? I always thought the guy spent more time overseas than here in Japan."

"Well, he only shows up from time to time, but we are classmates when he does." Kaito told him. He could sort of understand why Heiji didn't seem to like Hakuba very much- they had two very contrasting personalities, and although he'd never had the chance to see Hattori Heiji doing actual detective work, he got the distinct impression that they way they handled cases was completely different, judging from the story Hakuba had to tell alone. Still, in the end, it seemed as if the half-British detective _did_ end up with some kind of respect for Heiji in the end- although he still didn't seem very fond of him, even with that.

It would appear that Hattori Heiji was the type of person who evoked a strong reaction in people, one way or another.

"That's right, Kuroba-kun." Akako said, gaze trailing over towards him. "Why don't you go with Hattori-kun to check out the mirror in question? Of course, I'm afraid that I won't be able to accompany him myself, so why don't you go with him in my stead?"

"Say no, Kuroba-han, she's askin' ya ta be bait." Heiji said frankly, glancing across the table at him. "'Sides, I'd rather not just be luggin' someone from the outside around with me, Koizumi. Ya know that much. Whatever yer tryin' ta pull, I want no part of it."

"I'm hardly trying to pull anything." Akako said, placing a hand over her chest, her eyes fluttering in faked shock at the mere _accusation_ of such a thing. "I just think Kuroba-kun could prove himself useful. He's a rather skilled magician, you know."

"Magician?" Heiji asked, tilting his head slightly. "You?"

"I am." Kaito said, flashing him a quick grin. He wasn't quite certain what Heiji meant by bait- and he was pretty damn certain that he didn't like the sound of it. However, he had to admit, his curiosity was still winning out on him in spite of that, as he'd only grown more and more intrigued by Heiji during the course of their meeting. "My father was Kuroba Toichi, though I don't know if you would have heard of him."

"Vaguely." Heiji replied, his gaze dating slightly to Kaito's side, before he shrugged his shoulders. "Still, I'd have ta advise against it. Flashy card tricks won't exactly come in handy."

"I can do far more than just flashy card tricks, I'll have you know!" Kaito said, a slight huff escaping from him, nearly taking offense at the suggestion that was all his skills amounted to. "But it's fine, Hattori-kun. I'm sort of curious about this as well, so I wouldn't mind coming along."

"Yeah, that's what I thought ya'd say." Heiji said, scratching the back of his head, heaving a long sigh. "So? Where's this place supposed ta be anyways, Koizumi? Ya haven't hold me that yet."

"Why, it's right here in Ekoda." Akako told him, rattling off the address from her memory. As she did, Kaito couldn't help but cringe slightly- he knew that place, and also recalled that it had been famous for being haunted ever since he was a little kid. They used to have to pass it on their way to elementary school, and Aoko would always hold his hand so tight he could have sworn his fingers would have popped right off. "It's a very charming western style manor, very hard to miss."

"Ya look like ya know the place, Kuroba." Heiji observed, taking stock of his expression.

"Yeah, I know where it is." Kaito said, slowly nodding his head. Well, he doubted that the claims of the place being haunted were actually _true_ \- at the very least, that's what he would _like_ to think. However, given the fact that it was _Akako_ who was the one interested in it... maybe there was something to those rumors after all. "I could show you the way, in fact."

"Well, maybe I'll take ya up on that offer, then." Getting to his feet, Heiji slid out of the booth, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Ya sure ya aren't comin', Koizumi?"

"I'm quite certain." Akako said, giving him a rather placid looking smile. "I would hardly want to get in the way of your work, Hattori-kun. Besides, I'd rather _avoid_ you stealing my magic from me again."

" _Koizumi_." Heiji said again, glowering down at her, before his gaze flickered back towards Kaito. The boy only looked slightly fazed by the statement, which cemented Heiji's theory that he knew she was a witch already, and once again he couldn't help but find himself wondering exactly _what_ Akako hoped to accomplish by having this Kudo look alike tag along with him today.

She was definitely planning something, Heiji thought, and he was going to find out _what_. And then he was going to put a stop to it.

 _Again_.

 _Stealing magic?_ There were times when Kaito felt grateful for his poker face outside of heists- and this was one of them, he thought to himself, only showing the barest reaction to the otherwise strange phrase. Even if he'd been suspecting that Heiji tipped more towards Akako's side of the magical scale, hearing his suspicions more or less confirmed still took him a moment to process.

Of course, if he could use magic, that would explain the business with the Dragon's Egg from earlier. He already had a slight taste of what real magic could do from Akako's antics at his past heists, so it seemed quite within the realm of possibility. If there were real magic involved in that trick from the other day, then everything would make perfect sense. Still, what on earth was that 'stealing magic' bit about?

Hattori Heiji, Kaito decided, was quite interesting indeed.  
__________________________________________________________________

Hakuba Saguru had no intention of admitting that the reason he had returned to Japan had _anything_ to do with a girl. Much less that strangely charming Koizumi Akako girl, whose very voice alone sent a wave of emotion through him that he didn't quite know what to do with, a feeling that he wasn't quite acquainted with. He _certainly_ wasn't going to admit that he, a detective with numerous cases underneath his belt, had decided to return to Japan just because said girl had called him in the middle of the night, telling him that there was something that troubled her, and that he needed to come right away and resolve the case, so she could sleep well again.

Certainly not. He'd only returned to Japan because he'd been invited personally to solve a case. That was the only reason that he found himself navigating the streets of Ekoda once more, trying to find an address that Akako had given him. When he'd asked after it at a nearby store, the cashier had paled, but had nevertheless given him directions on how to get there.

It wasn't as if the reaction surprised him. He'd done some research before he'd arrived here, learning that the house in question was rumored to be haunted. Foolish nonsense, of course, there were no such things as ghosts. Still, the case in question did trouble him- people who entered the house for tests of courage would sometimes disappear, and when they did return, around a day later, it was as if their personalities had changed. They became colder, more cruel- as if their good aspects had been stripped away from them, only leaving behind the bad.

It was odd, and it had more than caught his attention. What could cause such a thing? And why had they vanished in the first place? There was clearly something there, though not anything that had to do with the supernatural, Hakuba thought, even as he looked up towards the somewhat ominous looking western styled manor in question. It looked as if there had been nobody living here for at least the past fifty years- although it had clearly seen plenty of foot traffic since then.

Like, for example, the film crew that was busy setting things up in front the house. Judging from the logo plastered on the van parked just outside, it appeared to be for some kind of ghost hunting show.

Joy.

What he _did_ take note of however, was a rather familiar looking face that was hovering just outside the manor, an assessing look that belonged to someone much older written in those young eyes. It was a surprise to Hakuba, considering that he was quite certain that Edogawa Conan's usual stomping grounds were a few cities away, in Beika, rather than here- and he couldn't help but wonder what had brought him out here to this place, by himself.

"Huh?" Breaking out of his thoughts and glancing up, Conan had to do a brief double take as he took notice of Hakuba. "Hakuba-niichan?"

"Conan-kun." Hakuba stated, quickly approaching the young boy, a hint of a fond smile on his face. The boy was something of a curiosity to him, a wisdom behind that young face that was well beyond his years. "I wouldn't have expected to find you here."

"I could say the same thing." Conan observed. Of course, he didn't quite want to be here himself- and he wouldn't be, were it not for the strange letter that he'd gotten in the agency's mailbox that told him that he might be able to unlock the secrets behind Hattori Heiji should he come to this address, on this date. He'd been skeptical of it, but decided to follow up on it in the end. Judging from the look on Hakuba's face, he at the very least, had nothing to do with it. "What brings you here, Hakuba-niichan?"

"An investigation." Hakuba told him. "This house is tied to a rash of disappearances."

"Eh, really?" Conan blinked, more than taken aback by the news. "But I hadn't heard anything about that on the news."

"The victims generally all seem to reappear after one day, so that's probably why. However, it appears that during this time, they experience a severe personality change." Hakuba explained. "A classmate of mine asked me to look into it, which brings me here today. What of yourself, Conan-kun?"

"Well, you could say that I'm waiting to meet someone here..." Conan trailed off, glancing around him. Leave it to Heiji to never show up when he actually needed him to. "Did you run into Heiji-niichan around here anywhere?"

Well, probably not, seeing as the half-British detective looked perfectly collected.

"No, I haven't seen Hattori-kun." Hakuba replied simply, leaving off the ' _thank god_ ', he'd added in his thoughts. "Don't tell me the one you're supposed to meet here is...?"

"Huh?" At the sound of the voice of the Osakan detective in question, Conan and Hakuba turned their gazes towards him. "What are ya doin' here, Ku- Conan-kun?" Heiji asked, before shooting a dirty look towards the taller of the pair. "An' what the hell is Hakuba doin' back in Japan period?"

"It's not as if I'm not allowed in the country, Hattori-kun." Hakuba stated simply, almost heaving a long sigh. It had been quite some time since he'd seen the Osakan detective last, and although he'd managed to redeem himself a little in Hakuba's eyes after his somewhat lackluster first impression, he nevertheless was on the short list of people that he didn't want to deal with.

What caught his attention all the more, however, was the young man who had arrived alongside Heiji, a rather unexpected face indeed. He wasn't even aware that Kuroba Kaito knew the detective of the west, and couldn't help but wonder if Heiji had any idea that he was standing next to the person who was _very likely_ Kaito Kid.

"Hakuba? What are you doing here?" Kaito piped up, before slowly turning his gaze downwards, only the virtue of his poker face saving him from allowing his panic to surface on his face. What the hell was _Edogawa Conan_ , of all people, doing here? Akako hadn't mentioned anything about this!

That damn witch- she really had been planning something, hadn't she?

"An investigation." Hakuba said simply, repeating his earlier statement. "I wasn't aware that you and Hattori-kun were already acquainted, Kuroba-kun."

"We're not." Heiji stated simply, folding his arms in front of his chest, feeling a vague headache coming on. Of all the people to cross paths- it _had_ to be Hakuba Saguru. That damn witch- she had arranged all of this, hadn't she? "We just met."

"He's a friend of Akako's." Kaito stated, ignoring Heiji's glower in favor of watching the startled look that crossed Hakuba's face.

"M'not her _friend_ , Kuroba. Thought we'd established that much already." Heiji half growled, eyes casting fury towards the other boy.

"Geez, you _are_ a temperamental one, aren't you?" Kaito asked, making a small face, taking a half step back from Heiji. "Right, okay, so he's not so much Akako's friend as someone she happens to know. I ran into Akako, and then I ran into him, if you're wondering about the exact sequence of events, Hakuba. And what about you and...?" He asked, daring to glance down towards the pint sized detective, carefully masking the slight flinch he felt as he noticed that the child's full attention was directed towards him.

"Edogawa Conan." Conan himself spoke up, tilting his head slightly as he looked over towards Kaito. He had to admit, he was more than a little taken aback by the resemblance they shared with each other- but well, they did say that there were at least three other people in the world who looked like you. He could only hope that it wouldn't cause this 'Kuroba' person any trouble in the future. "I came here to meet up with Heiji-niichan!"

"Wait, why wasn't _I_ informed of this?" Heiji asked, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"Consider it payback for all the times you've snuck up on me, Heiji-niichan." Conan said lightly, his cute child act on in full force.

"That's fair, actually." Heiji admitted, giving him a slight nod of his head. He had a feeling that Conan just didn't want to talk about it in front of everyone else- eyes casting a glance over towards the house, he could think of a couple of reasons as to why. "An'? What about Blondie over there? Don't tell me yer the type who believes in the occult?"

"Of course not." Hakuba snorted. "As I said before, Hattori-kun, I'm here on an investigation. Is that not what brings you here today as well?"

"Well, somethin' like that." Heiji said, shrugging his shoulders. It was better to go along with that story than tell him that he was trying to collect a certain item for Akako. He seriously doubted Hakuba had any knowledge of that witch's true nature, and it was better to keep it that way. The last thing he wanted was _Hakuba Saguru_ on his tail. "Oh, yeah, Conan-kun," Heiji blinked, glancing behind him over towards Kaito. "This guy's Kuroba Kaito. Nobody gave ya his full name yet, right?"

"That's right, I'm Kuroba Kaito!" Kaito flashed the pint sized detective a grin, half wondering if he could leave this situation without rousing suspicion. The fact that Hakuba was here pretty much shot that idea to hell though- if the half-British detective caught him running from the mere sight of the so-called Kid Killer, then that would only confirm his suspicions all the more.

And he hardly wanted to leave these three detectives alone together. If only because he was pretty certain that at some point, Hakuba and Heiji might _actually_ try and kill each other if left unsupervised.

"Well, we might have some trouble getting inside right now." Conan noted, glancing over towards the van. "When I tried to go in earlier, the people working on the set pushed me out. Apparently they're setting up for some kind of ghost hunter show. Do you know anything about it, Heiji-niichan?"

"Ah, they're a bunch of frauds." Heiji said simply, catching the rather purposeful glance that Conan shot over towards him, glancing over towards the logo on the van himself. He left out the fact that they were also a bunch of fraudulent amateurs likely to get their asses killed one of these days. People like this only managed to make his job ten times harder than it already was. "The whole show is a load of hooey."

"Don't you think that's a bit rude?"

The sound of the new voice startled the four boys, as they turned to see who it was that was speaking. Instantly, Heiji grimaced, recognizing the faces of those behind him- none other than the cast of that blasted ghost hunting show in question. It was a shame he wasn't alone right now, otherwise he'd use this chance to give them a piece of his mind.

"We're _hardly_ frauds." The long, black haired woman that was the leader of the group, spoke up, an offended look on her face. Out of the four, she was the only one who usually had _some_ idea of what she was doing, Heiji noted in the back of his head. "We're professionals."

"Well, it can't be helped, Reiko-san." The young redheaded man behind her spoke up. "There will always be people who don't believe in the world beyond the veil. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do to convince them."

"Still, haven't I seen the two of you before somewhere?" The third member of their group spoke up, a young man with large glasses, who glanced between Hakuba and Heiji. "Don't they look familiar, Aki-san?"

"Now that you mention it, they do." The last member, the one named Aki, spoke up, a light of inspiration striking in him as he seemed to put names to their faces. "I see! The two of you are those high school detectives, aren't you? I've read about you in the paper sometimes. Let's see... it's Hakuba Saguru and Hattori Heiji, isn't it?"

"That's right." Hakuba said, slowly nodding his head. However much he had to agree with Heiji's assessment that these people were nothing more than a bunch of frauds, that was _hardly_ a reason to be impolite. "These two here are Edogawa Conan and Kuroba Kaito."

"I'm Kawasaki Aki." Aki introduced himself, flashing them a quick smile. "This here is Hokusai Reiko, Nagasawa Kazuya, and Haruaki Souji." He told them. "We're the stars of the program that's filming here today."

"And I'm not certain _why_ there's a bunch of people who have nothing to do with us clustering around the filming location." Souji noted, pushing up the bridge of his glasses with one finger. "I don't know what your intentions are here, but you'll only get in the way of filming, so please leave."

"Well, don't be that way, Souji-san." Kazuya said, glancing at the group of boys. "After all, isn't it our job to turn skeptics into believers? What say the four of you watch us work? It's not that often you get a chance to watch a television show being filmed live! What do you say, Reiko-san?"

"As long as they don't get in the way of the filming, I don't mind." Reiko said after a moment, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, if there's not one but _two_ high school detectives here, then I'm certain there's a good reason for it. Did something happen?"

"I was asked by a classmate of mine to investigate some strange occurrences in this house." Hakuba spoke up, glancing over towards Heiji, who cast him a quick glower, before he nodded his head, silently agreeing that was the reason he was here as well. "Perhaps you've heard about them?"

"Ah, the disappearances?" Reiko asked. "Well, that's part of why we're here too. I'm amazed that someone who sounds as skeptical as you would take such a thing seriously, though."

"Well, it's a fact that people did disappear from here, and it's likewise a fact that their personalities changed after they returned. It's not like I can just ignore it." Hakuba stated plainly. "Though I _doubt_ the cause is anything supernatural."

"Then, what other explanation would you have for it?" Souji asked, sending him a sharp glower.

"Now, now, there's no need to get at each others throats like this." Kaito interjected, flashing the assembled group an easy smile. "Nagasawa-san, was it? I'd be more than happy to take you up on your offer, though I don't know about the other three...?"

"I don't mind." Heiji said finally, shrugging his shoulders. At least this way he could keep an eye on the four of them and made sure that they didn't get into any trouble. Now that he was close to the house himself, it was easy for him to pick up on just how _close_ it was to the boundary- no _wonder_ that it had a reputation for being haunted, as Kaito had mentioned to him on the way over. "Provided they don't get in the way of _our_ work."

Well, mostly _his_ work, really. Screw Hakuba's.

"Your-?" Souji began, before Aki cut him off, casting him a warning look.

"That's fine. We'll both work hard to not get in each other's way. I believe that's something that we can more than manage." Aki said, a somewhat placid smile on his face. "We've still got some setting up to do out here, and some exterior shots to take, so why don't the four of you go ahead and go inside? We'll clear it with the crew."

"Then, we'll take you up on that offer." Hakuba said, giving the man a slight nod of his head.  
____________________________________________________________

"Hey, Kudo," Crouched down by his side, dropping his voice low so that the others couldn't hear him, Heiji took the first chance he could get to ask the burning question that was still in the back of his mind. "What are ya doin' here?"

"I got a letter." Conan said simply, dropping his own voice. "Helpfully informing me that if I came to this house, on this date, I'd learn some of your secrets. Judging from all the mentions of that Koizumi girl, I'm going to assume she's the one who sent it."

"Yeah, probably." Heiji grumbled, feeling a slight vein pop in his forehead. _Of course_ this was all the work of that witch. She was probably having fun throwing him in the middle of these three while he was just trying to do his damn job- although what the hell _Kuroba Kaito_ had to do with either Conan or Hakuba, aside from being the latter's classmate, Heiji had no idea.

He assumed he'd figure it out eventually. Knowing Akako, there must have been _some_ reason behind his inclusion, other than hoping he'd serve as bait for whatever it was that they were dealing with here. Most likely some kind of fairy or evil spirit, if Heiji didn't miss his mark.

"So are you here today as a detective, or as _something else_ , Hattori?" Conan asked frankly, making certain to keep his voice to whisper. Honestly, he was leaning towards option number two, though whatever that something else was, he was just as clueless as he had been when he left Osaka two weeks ago. He hadn't had many chances to talk with Heiji after that, so the task of solving the mystery he present to him had been put somewhat on hold.

"A bit of both, really." Heiji noted with a slight shrug. "Anyways, I need ya ta babysit Hakuba fer me, because of that somethin' else, Kudo." Heiji said, shooting the half-British detective a look, who was already busy looking for any sign of anything that would be out of place in a supposedly abandoned mansion that couldn't be explained by it being used for frequent tests of courage.

"Babysit?" Not doing much to mask the incredulity of his tone, Conan arched a brow. "Hakuba's the same age as we are, Hattori. He hardly needs a babysitter, especially not one who _looks_ half his age, at the very least."

"Listen, Kudo." A rather dry expression crossed Heiji's face as he locked eyes with the shrunken detective. "Let's say hypothetically, the four of us found ourselves in a horror movie. Which one of us is gonna die first?"

"...Hakuba, probably." Conan admitted after a moment of thought, not entirely seeing how that question was related. "Incidentally, _you'd_ probably be the killer."

"Okay first off, that's _cold_ , Kudo." Heiji told him, casting a disbelieving look towards his friend. "I'm _obviously_ the red herring that ends up savin' yer sorry butt in the end, but I digress. Anyways, I need ya ta just keep an eye on Hakuba an' make sure he doesn't get in my way."

"He's investigating the same thing you are, Hattori, why not work with him?" Conan asked. "I know the two of you don't get along, but... why are you looking at me like that, Hattori? Don't laugh, I'm being serious here."

"No, no, I mean. Think about it fer a second Kudo." Heiji told him, unable to keep an amused grin off of his face. "Do ya really think someone like Hakuba is gonna be able ta keep up with me? Like ya asked, I'm half here as somethin' _other_ than a detective, an' I think ya've unlocked enough about what that somethin' other is ta know _why_ I'm findin' that suggestion of yers so funny right now."

There was a slight pause, before Conan gave the briefest of sighs, rubbing his forehead. "Alright, yes, I can kind of see where you're coming from, Hattori. I'll look after Hakuba as best as I can, provided you tell me exactly why you're here in the first place. No lies, nothing cryptic."

"I'm lookin' into a mirror fer a witch." Heiji stated, watching as a disbelieving look crossed Conan's face. Shrugging his shoulders, he could only give him a slightly helpless look, the effect of which was somewhat hindered by the fact that he hadn't wiped that amused grin of his off of his face just yet. "Ya said no lies, Kudo. That's the other part of the reason I'm here."

"There's _no such thing_ as witches, Hattori." Conan said, dropping his voice low, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Kaito's attention had strayed over towards them, growing more and more curious as their conversation dragged on, much as the messy haired teen seemed to try and act otherwise.

"But there _are_ such things as prophetic dreams an' shrinkin' teenagers, huh?" Heiji asked, not even attempting to mask the amused tone on his voice. "Anyways, ya heard me, Kudo. Keep an eye on Blondie over there."

" _Hattori_ -" Was all Conan managed to get out before Heiji gave his hair a playful ruffle, heading off towards another area of the house, leaving him alone with his fellow high school detective and whatever Kuroba Kaito was supposed to be.  
_____________________________________________________________________

"And _stay_ in there."

Watching as Hattori Heiji was rather unceremoniously shoved back into the room, the other members of the group had found themselves stuck in once the filming had begun in earnest, three sets of questioning eyes turned towards the Osakan high school detective, watching as he cast a rather dirty look towards the door that had been slammed shut behind him. Folding his arms in front of his chest, Heiji mumbled some things underneath his breath, before he plopped down on the nearest couch, planting his booted feet on top of the rather dusty coffee table.

He'd barely even got a chance to _look_ at the damn mirror.

"What did you do _this_ time, Hattori-kun?" Hakuba couldn't help but ask, turning back to the book he had been paging through. The one thing he'd managed to conclude during his initial investigation was that it looked as if whoever had originally lived here had simply just gotten up and left- the shelves were still lined with old books, clothes still placed in their dressers, and the kitchen shelves were still stocked with all manners of plates and platters. He'd even made the huge mistake of peeking into the fridge- something which he _still_ regretted, still half smelling it on the inside of his nose. The fact that there was still electricity and running water was strange as well. Who was paying for it?

That, in itself, was curious. Perhaps it could have been a midnight flight, but even if that were the case, there were simply too many left behind items. He'd had his housekeeper look up the address in the police archive before he'd arrived here, but no violent crimes, or crimes of any kind had been reported from before it had abandoned, and no traces of it's previous owners could be found anywhere. There were no photographs, or any papers left lying around that would have given hint to their identities- only children's drawings, left on the fridge.

It was as if whoever had owned this house had simply vanished into thin air, and nobody even noticed they were gone.

"Kept makin' all their stupid equipment go off." Heiji muttered, brows knitting together, unable to help but notice the way that Conan- and Kaito, oddly enough, allowed a hint of a curious expression to creep onto their faces. He was just surprised that half of the stuff that they had even seemed to work, even if those using it didn't seem to have any idea of how to actually properly interpret the results they were getting. It wasn't _his_ fault that electromagnetic field detectors went wild around him, or at the very least, it wasn't as if he was doing it on purpose.

Man if that Yamamura guy ever got it into his head to buy one of those... ugh, Heiji didn't even wanting to think about the yammering he'd have to put up with. Maybe he really _should_ just erase all of that annoying inspector's memories, non-interference vow be damned.

"Ah." Hakuba merely said, simply assuming that Heiji had been messing with the film crew somehow. "Frauds or not, you should be a bit better behaved. They're only doing their job at the end of the day."

"Yeah, yeah, stow it, Blondie." Heiji grumbled to himself, not really in the mood. The longer he spent in here, the more aware he became that this place was practically _crawling_ with things that existed just outside of the human eye- like that very pleasant looking young lady who'd taken to following Hakuba around, head only attached to her neck by the barest of threads. Well, as grotesque as her appearance was, she wasn't dangerous- if anything, she appeared to be _enamored_ of Hakuba.

What lousy taste.

There were no spirits lingering around Heiji himself, he knew. Lower level ghosts tended to avoid him like the plague. It had been different when he was a child, and didn't understand anything about his own abilities, but with awareness had come the blessed lifting of the threat of being ever possessed by something no longer of this world again.

That'd been a pain in the ass.

There was the usual cluster of underdeveloped spirits hovering around Conan, though this was nothing new, all of which quickly darted away from Conan the moment Heiji looked towards them. Any time they went anywhere with a high concentration of the things, that sort of thing would happen, and probably had been happening for his entire life, judging from the way he'd learned to ignore the heavy air they brought with them. That was kind of scary in it's own right, Heiji thought to himself, his gaze flickering over towards Kaito.

The ghost of the man who surely must have been his father merely held a hand up to his lips, a placid smile on his face, and Heiji merely shrugged his shoulders, turning his gaze away from him. He wondered if Kaito had any idea he was being haunted by his old man, but he kind of doubted it. Akako had apparently never felt so inclined to tell him as much either, he suspected, no real surprise there. Unlike the fawning ghost girl who was giving Hakuba the doe eyes, hoping in vain that he'd take notice of her, he knew that the man's ghost could do what it wanted, not bonded to any one place or person, simply choosing to remain by Kaito's side at the present time.

It was also the reason why he didn't need to worry about Kaito getting into trouble here, given the fact that he was pretty certain that the fatherly specter wouldn't allow anything of the sort anywhere _near_ him.

Which was a good thing, it gave him one less person to worry about. Because sure enough, just as he had suspected, there was something malevolent in this place, one that was already fully aware they all were here- and had only grown _angrier_ the very second Heiji had stepped through the door. He hadn't been kidding about that horror movie analogy, not really.

Thankfully, whatever it was, it seemed to be confined to the upper floor of the house.

When the blackout happened, Heiji almost bolted to his feet, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. He knew at once that there was no supernatural source to said blackout- but nevertheless, there were things in this house that thrived in the darkness.

Thankfully, the power came back on quickly, barely even a minute having passed before it seemed someone found the breaker and switched it on. Any relief was short-lived, however, at the sound of pounding on one of the doors on the upper floors, and the shouting voices that drifted downwards, at once catching the attention of the three detectives, all of whom darted towards the source of it. Lagging a little behind, Kaito suddenly wondered if perhaps he should have actually stayed home today.

Because that sure was a corpse, he thought to himself, after Heiji all but broke the door down without a moment's hesitation, shoving the men twice his age out of the way, the bulge of Hokusai Reiko's eyes and the way that she still vainly attempted to remove the rope that had been used to throttle her, hands forever frozen in time, her body slumped in front of an antique mirror. Mentally counting to three in his mind, the three detectives each quickly spoke up.

"Call the police!" Conan's tone would have surprised him, were Kaito not already used to the unchildlike way he could act.

"Nobody enter the room!" Hakuba didn't exactly shout, but nevertheless raised his voice, speaking a firm command.

Hattori Heiji, meanwhile, just let out a rather colorful litany of swears, half of which were in languages that Kaito didn't even recognize.


	10. Using a Haunted Mansion as Your Murder Location is Generally, a Bad Idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A corpse turns up, Heiji bemoans the fact that people never learn why murdering other people in haunted houses is a bad idea, and something far worse than any murderer is lurking. Hattori Heiji's Very Long No Good Day continues.

Why, oh why, Heiji wondered as his eyes fell on the corpse of Hokusai Reiko, did people _insist_ on murdering other people inside of haunted houses? Common horror movie knowledge should indicate that this sort of thing _never_ ended well. It was a damn good thing that he was here, in fact, otherwise this would have turned real ugly, real fast.

Because make no mistake- even though the corpse had been leaned up against the mirror that he'd been asked to check out, this was definitely the work of a human. It was his instincts as a detective that told him this, and not his experience with the supernatural and- oh damn, Hakuba was trying to get near the corpse- and the mirror with it. Nope. Nope, nope, nope.

All but stomping over and placing himself in Hakuba's way, using his own body to shield the half-British detective from the mirror, Heiji flashed him a cheeky grin, even as his actions were earned him a slight glare from Hakuba. Heiji brushed it off, even as he mumbled something underneath his breath about ungrateful outsiders, and promptly began examining the corpse, ignoring what he could sense lurking within the mirror just behind him. Boy howdy, was it ever angry.

It wasn't like it could do anything to him- it was _everyone else_ in the house that he was worried about. Whatever this things deal was, a murder happening right in front of it was clearly setting it off- there had to be a murder or something tied directly into it's past, he thought, filing that away for a little later. Right now there was a murder that had happened in the here and now that he needed to solve. It was too bad that the only witness to the matter was unlikely to tell him anything- not that their testimony could be used in court to begin with.

"She's still slightly warm, so it hasn't been that long since she died." Heiji told the gathered detectives- and whatever the hell that Kuroba guy was supposed to be. Come to think of it, he couldn't help but wonder if Akako had known that something like this would happen. Her prophecies, much like his own, were quite often spot on.

Well, at the very least, he hadn't had any nightmares last night, so at least nothing bad would happen to Conan. As for Hakuba and Kuroba? Well, that _was_ the question now, wasn't it? Not to mention well- again, _everyone else_ in the house.

"O-oi, I can't get through to the police on my phone." One of the cast members of the ghost hunting show stammered out- Aki, Heiji recalled his name was. "I'm just getting static."

"It's the same for me as well." The cast member by the name of Souji spoke up, a deep frown on his face. Internally grumbling, Heiji watched as Conan and Hakuba alike went for their own phones, only to find out that the very same phenomenon was happening to them both. Were the situation not what it was, Heiji might have actually enjoyed the mutual look of befuddlement that crossed their faces.

"Fine, fine, _I'll_ make the call." Heiji grumbled, getting to his feet and pulling out his own cellphone. Letting a slight hint of sparks trail from the hand it was in, just out of view- they'd show up right away in this darkened room, after all, Heiji quickly dialed the emergency number, and then, to the confusion of everyone in the room, quickly made the phone call that nobody else could.

Preventing outside communication was basically evil spirit 101, he mentally noted, putting away his phone once the police had been called, turning to look towards everyone with a wide grin. "Maybe you guys should buy phones that _don't suck_." He lightly teased- noting the unconvinced look he got from Conan out of the corner of his eyes. He couldn't help but notice that the pint-sized detective wasn't alone in this- that Souji fellow, the one who had been annoyed the most by Heiji's interference with their equipment, was casting him a strange look as well.

This was going to be _fun_ , Heiji thought dryly to himself. Years of experience had taught him what _that_ look meant.

It was too early for him to determine who the actual culprit behind the murder was, but he got the feeling that they were going for the classic 'blame it on the ghost' scenario. The locked room, the body slumped in front of the cursed mirror, the blackout- definitely the classic set up for that sort of thing. Because that always works out _so well_ , Heiji thought to himself. Honestly, they must have a lot of nerve trying to murder someone when two- three, really, but they had no way of knowing that, detectives were in the house with them.

The fact that Hakuba and Conan were both here meant at the very least, Heiji could safely divert some of his attention away from the murder case. Of course, he trusted that Conan would be able to get to the bottom of the case on his own, and he supposed Hakuba would too, so long as he didn't get distracted by thieves again. He'd looked into it a bit later, and apparently the half-British high school detective spent an awful lot of time chasing around that Kaito Kid character, which explained his mentality on that island, all things considered.

Still, Heiji quite frankly couldn't see what either Hakuba or Conan saw in that guy- even after begrudgingly being forced to attend one of his heists, Heiji really didn't see the appeal. Well, whatever. He had other things to focus on right now.

Like the person calling out from the floor below them, informing everyone above in a panicked voice that the front door was locked, and wouldn't open. Heaving a long, exasperated sigh, Heiji rubbed the back of his neck, heading for the door, pushing past the gawking onlookers. "Right, right, I'll be right there."

Making his way downstairs, he couldn't help but notice that the ghost that had been following Hakuba around all this time was now hovering just at the bottom of the stairs- as if she didn't want to go up them herself. _Or couldn't_ , Heiji thought, having taken notice that aside from whatever it was that was in that mirror, there had been no other ghosts or spirits upstairs. Passing by the ghost girl without so much as sparing a look, Heiji made his way to the front door, where two members of the crew were attempting in vain to get it open.

Evil spirit 101, part two- seal all entrances and exits, and trap people like rats.

Seriously, when he found out which one of those three had decided to _murder their co-host in a haunted house_ , he was going to give them a serious piece of his mind. Why did people like tempting fate this way? You'd think that they would know better given their job choice, even if they _were_ a bunch of frauds.

"Let me do that." Speaking up, Heiji shooed away the two who had been trying to get the door open. Taking the doorknob with his own hand, the crackle of sparks that danced from it was less visible in the better lighting of the first floor. With ease, he opened up the front door, pausing to ask one of the crew members to get him something to hold it open with. When they quickly returned with a heavy book, he shoved it in place in front of the door, just so he didn't have to keep doing this over and over again for the rest of the day.

"Are you okay, Heiji-niichan?" Conan's voice caught his attention right away, and Heiji blinked, surprised that he'd actually followed him downstairs, leaving the corpse behind. Well, Hakuba was also here, so he supposed that the shrunken detective felt somewhat more at ease. "You look a bit irritated."

"That's because I _am_." Heiji grumbled, casting a glower upstairs, watching as the three most likely culprits peered down the stairs at him. Briefly meeting the eyes of that Souji guy, whose peer was more of a glare, Heiji narrowed his own, returning the expression with his usual ferocity. It was enough to make the man flinch and turn away- though as soon as Heiji turned his attention back towards Conan, he noticed that the man was glaring back down at him again.

"Ya don't know how lucky ya are sometimes, Kudo." Heaving an annoyed sigh, Heiji crouched down next to him, dropping his voice to prevent anyone from listening in. Ever since he'd gone downstairs, he could hear the whispers of the things that lived in the house, buzzing in his ears, frankly giving him something of a headache. He was more or less used to hearing the voices of the dead, but that didn't mean hearing them speak in crescendo together was something he enjoyed. Even switching his hat around, his usual trigger for drowning out such things, didn't seem to be having much effect right now. That was a house on the boundary, for you. " _Normal_ murder scenes are bad enough, but..."

Trailing off a little, Heiji stopped himself, rubbing the back of his head. He'd half forgotten he _hadn't_ broken the news to him that, _surprise_ , ghosts were real, much less the fact that he was able to _see_ them. Long before he'd even known _what_ he was, he knew it was one of the things that had marked him as different from everyone else. It didn't really do him that much good when it came to solving a murder- while ghosts formed pretty quickly after death, it took them awhile to gain anything like awareness, so it wasn't as if he could just chat them up and ask them. Even if he could, he'd _still_ need to find proof. For the most part, newly created ghosts just floated around aimlessly like lumps, passing through most people without much harm, save to maybe give them a slight shiver.

Except for _him_ , that is. Granted, he'd probably be able to solve a murder pretty quick if he let them do so, given that he was able to experience the moment of their death when he did so, but frankly, it was also extremely unpleasant, so he had long ago filed that under 'avoid at all costs'. Over the years he'd learned to avoid them without making his movements that obviously strange, but he'd gotten some pretty odd looks back when he started doing detective work in earnest. Still, he'd get even odder looks if he let them touch him, and suddenly started acting as if he was being strangled or stabbed himself.

Besides, it wasn't like he _needed_ to talk to ghosts to solve their murders. He could do that just fine without any kind of otherworldly senses, thank you very much.

"But...?" Conan blinked, Heiji not even having realized that he'd pretty much trailed off and then left his friend hanging for some time now. There was worry in those eyes, clear as day. Something was obviously troubling him, he could tell that much. "Are you really okay, Hattori? Do you have a headache or something?"

"I'm probably gonna _get_ one." Heiji grumbled to himself, before casting him a reassuring look nevertheless. "Well, don't worry about it, Kudo. I'm more than used ta this sort of thing, though I admit, yer concern is touchin'." Rising to his feet, he quickly put his usual grin on his face. "Now then, why don't we go solve us this murder, huh, _best friend~_?"

Giving Heiji something of an unconvinced look, Conan nevertheless gave him a small smile in return. Well, if the person himself was going to play off everything as fine, then he wouldn't bother him too much about it- at least not in public, where there were far too many people bustling about. Whatever things Heiji was concealing, he was aware enough to know that they weren't the type of thing you discussed where there were ears listening in.

Not to mention the glaring eyes of that Haruaki Souji person, Conan couldn't help but note, having not failed the catch the way he'd been glowering at Heiji out of the corner of his eyes ever since his phone had been the only one to connect. Which was, Conan admitted, odd, but no odder than anything else he'd noticed about Heiji recently. Judging from the way he kept checking the odd device in his hands- probably one of those electromagnetic field detectors that he always saw people on these types of shows carry around, he kind of had a feeling in what direction that was going to go.

At the very least, they weren't in Gunma. Or Shizuoka, Conan mentally added, having somehow expected better from the likes of Yokomizo Sango. Still, he honestly couldn't believe that the JSDF, of all things, had actually responded to his call about the so-called Nue. What were they thinking?

Even if Conan _did_ have the creeping impression that perhaps there really were more things in this world than he knew. And whatever those things were, it was already becoming clear to him that his rival had long since been deeply entrenched in them. If he wasn't one _himself_ , that was.

And that was his current limit for that line of thought, so it was time to turn his attention back towards what he did best- solving a murder. Glancing up at Heiji, Conan spoke up once more. "Hakuba's still with the corpse, making sure nobody tries to tamper with it or the scene. Should we split up and search for how the culprit switched the power off before the cops get here?"

"I was thinkin' the same thing myself, Kudo." With his teeth set in a wide grin, Heiji spared only a brief glance back upstairs, still feeling the seething anger coming from that mirror. That thing might have only kidnapped people and siphoned away their good traits before- for reasons Heiji hadn't quite figured out yet- but he got the feeling that the combination of himself being here, and the murder happening right in front of it was causing a fundamental shift in the way that it did things.

So it was best to wrap up the murder case as quick as possible, and do what he'd actually come here in the first place to do- dealing with that mirror.  
___________________________________________________________________

Heiji had been doing almost nothing but strange things ever since this whole... development had started, Kaito couldn't help but note. As his gaze drifted over towards the corpse, a somewhat unpleasant shudder running down his back as he spent a moment too long looking at those bulging eyes, he quickly turned his gaze back away from it. He was a thief and magician, not a detective- how on earth did he get caught up in a murder case?

_Again_.

At least this time nobody was trying to pin the blame on him, Kaito thought to himself. Even _he_ could guess that what they were trying to pin the blame on was probably some kind of ghost. He didn't need to be a detective to determine that much, especially as he listened to the cast and crew faintly chatter to themselves, whispering things they had heard about this place underneath their breaths. All rumors that Kaito was already familiar with, really.

"Are you quite alright, Kuroba-kun?" Sparing his classmate a glance, Hakuba couldn't help but notice that he was slightly pale.

"I'm not that great with corpses. Like you know, _normal people_." Kaito confessed after a moment. It definitely wasn't his first time seeing one, but in those situations, he'd been able to slid into his poker face as Kid- right now he didn't quite have that luxury. "Does this sort of thing always happen to you, Hakuba?"

"From time to time." Hakuba admitted with an easy shrug of his shoulders. "You grow somewhat used to it after awhile in my line of work. At any rate, whoever it was that killed her won't get away with it, you can be _quite_ certain of that."

Hakuba had taken the anger that was trailing off of Heiji to mean that he was annoyed that someone had the nerve to kill someone while two detectives were around. That said, he did have to admit that Heiji's behavior was... slightly odd. Given that he'd only met him once before, he supposed that he didn't really have a good enough impression of him to determine what was and wasn't odd behavior for him, but even so there was something about him that seemed slightly _off_ today.

It was strange that his phone was the only one that worked. He'd checked his a second time after Heiji had stalked out of the room, and found that it still only gave him static. That in itself was rather puzzling- what on earth could be causing such a strange phenomenon, and how on earth was Heiji the only one who wasn't troubled by it? The fact that he'd so easily gotten the front door open, that even two grown men twice his age had been having trouble with, was a bit odd as well.

And he'd taken it that Kaito had noticed, judging from the expression on his face. Rather than the murder at hand, that seemed to be what Kaito was more interested in- not that this surprised him. He wasn't a detective, after all, so things like figuring out the oddities behind the Osakan high school detective's behavior were more up his alley. And strangely enough, if Hakuba didn't miss his guess, it _wasn't_ the murder that was troubling Heiji so much as it was something _else_.

Although what that something else was, he had no idea. That Edogawa boy seemed to have some kind of hunch. And while Hakuba found it curious, it wasn't enough to really bother him- again, the murder was the most important thing that needed to be dealt with here. If he didn't miss his guess, the culprit had to be one of the three cast members that had been gathered outside of the door when they'd rushed up here.

From the sound of it, Reiko had been inside of this room, trying to commune with the spirit that lived here- and she'd asked to do so in private, as she usually did, they said. While the communing with spirits business was pure nonsense, it did appear that she was alone in the room- and to ensure this, she had locked it. She _hated_ being interrupted, he'd been informed, which was why she always took such measures. Even with the door having been broken down, it was clear that it _had_ been locked just before- he'd checked that much already.

Of the three of them, Kawasaki Aki was the closet- he'd been in the room right next door, searching for any interesting material for their show. Nagasawa Kazuya had been down the hall, working with one of the members of the camera crew to arrange some shots, while Haruaki Souji had been downstairs in the kitchen, filming a segment there. Out of the three of them, only Aki didn't have anyone to vouch for his alibi. Of course, that all went out the window when the power went out, but it hadn't been out for _that_ long. Barely even a minute.

Still, the fact that the power had gone out most likely meant that there was something that the culprit needed the power to go out for. Make no mistake, Hakuba was certain that this wasn't a real locked room murder, that there was a trick behind it- even if he'd yet to establish what it was. Perhaps the culprit needed the cover of darkness to pull off the trick- or perhaps he'd merely wanted to the cover of darkness so that he could attempt, quite foolishly, to pin the murder on a ghost.

Honestly, of all the absurd things. There were no such things as ghosts in this world.  
_____________________________________________________________________

"So, the victim this time is Hokusai Reiko, age thirty-one." Recalling the facts that had been told to him thus far, Megure glanced between the two high school detectives- before his eyes darted down towards Conan. Resisting the urge to let out a long sigh, half not surprised to see _any_ combination of this group anywhere near a murder scene anymore, even if this was the first time he'd had to deal with _this_ mix, Megure focused once more at the task at hand. "She was filming for the ghost hunting show, Supernatural Sunday, when the power went out. When the lights came back on, her fellow cast members quickly came to check on her, and upon getting no response from her, began to grow worried."

"And that's when Hattori-kun broke down the door." Hakuba noted, sparing a glance towards the direction of the Osakan detective, who merely flashed him a wide grin. He had a few questions as to _why_ that had been Heiji's gut reaction- surely there were other things that could be behind her lack of response other than her being dead. "And we discovered the corpse."

"I see. So she was strangled to death?" Megure asked, looking over towards the corpse in question. He couldn't help but notice the curious way that Heiji was hovering over in that area, away from everyone else. Given that he was usually the one doing this sort of thing, it struck him as a little bit odd.

What was more odd, he thought to himself, was that Kudo Shinichi look alike that was trying to not involve himself with all of this. For a moment, when he saw him first, Megure had thought he was the real deal- before he'd quickly learned that wasn't the case. Perhaps that was for the best. He didn't want to know what kind of case a gathering of all three famous high school detectives _and_ Conan would create. Throw in that female high school detective, Sera Masumi, and it would probably be something that would make him half want to retire.

"Yes, most likely by someone in this house." Hakuba told him with a nod, gaze trailing towards the victim's three fellow cast members that were still gathered outside of the door. After the minor hiccups in getting the police here, they had arrived without too much trouble, and were currently busying themselves investigating the scene. Hakuba had quickly volunteered to give them the rundown of what they knew already. None of them had exactly dragged their feet, waiting for the police to come, after all.

"Or by something _else_ in this house." As predicted, it was none other than Haruaki Souji who mumbled those words- just loud enough for everyone to hear. Once he'd noticed that his words had gained the attention that he wanted, the bespectacled man glanced over towards the two high school detectives. "You heard what that young man said, Inspector. The door was locked tight when we went to check on her. It wasn't until _that one_ over there," his gaze flickered over towards Heiji, his eyes briefly narrowing as he did so. "...broke it down that we were able to enter the room."

"What, are ya tryin' say that a ghost murdered her?" Heiji was the one who spoke up, scoffing at the mere notion. "Don't be an idiot. I clearly found the remains of the timin' device that was used ta trigger the blackout. Whoever set that up was clearly human. What's more, I just asked yer staff earlier, an' they didn't say anythin' about a sudden blackout bein' part of yer program today, so there's no doubt that someone set it up just fer the murder."

"I don't think _you_ of all people should scoff at that notion." Souji couldn't help but observe, narrowing his eyes further at the Osakan detective, who merely shrugged his shoulders in response. "Whatever's residing in this room is the one who killed Reiko-san! And _you're_ probably not that much different from it."

"There is no such thing as ghosts in this world." Hakuba spoke up, his tone sharp, cutting off any possible retort that could earn from Heiji. The last thing they needed was for him to pick a fight with one of the suspects- even if the suspect was trying to pick a fight with him. "Or is there some reason you'd like us to believe this theory, Haruaki-san?"

Quickly realizing the implications of those words, Souji quickly shut up with a click of his tongue, turning away from them. "I'm just saying it's possible, that's all."

"Well, we'll do a through investigation of the scene." Megure told him with a long sigh, wondering how he'd gotten himself stuck in this sort of mess. He couldn't help but wonder about that man's comment in regards to the Osakan detective, but put it aside for the moment. It probably wasn't _that_ relevant. He _had_ heard a rumor that these sorts of cases trailed Heiji wherever he went, but it appeared that it was true. He already had enough trouble with the likes of Conan and Kogoro seeming to trail death in their wake, he didn't need Heiji visiting his city and bringing even _stranger_ deaths with him- as much as he appreciated the young man's help.

Watching as Takagi lead the three suspects away to separate rooms to question them in more depth, he turned back towards Hakuba. "So? Is there anything about this case that you've noticed, Hakuba-kun?"

"Not yet- nothing worth telling, at the very least." Hakuba told him, shaking his head. "Without a doubt, it's one of those three though. After the blackout happened, they had all already clustered around this door. Since they showed up with her as well, and know her better than the crew members, they're the most likely suspects."

"I heard that they'd been arguin' lately." Heiji told them, finally pulling himself away from the body to join them. There was nobody hanging around the corpse- and more importantly, the mirror, at the moment, so he could allow himself a bit of freedom. Given how riled up that thing was, he was amazed that nobody could feel it in the least bit. That dark aura practically hung over the room like a thick fog at this point- if this dragged out for much longer, whatever was in there was going to start to manifest outside of it. "About the future of the show."

"I heard that as well." Conan piped up. After discovering the timing device, he and Heiji had spent the remaining time asking questions of the crew. "Apparently Nagasawa-san and Haruaki-san wanted to change the direction of the show, and Kawasaki-san and Hokusai-san disagreed with that."

Well, there had been something _else_ beyond that though, some other kind of tension. Although the crew members had commented on that, they didn't seem to know what it was. They seemed to think that whatever had caused the feud in the first place had some kind of deeper spark- they just didn't know what. Just a disagreement in direction wouldn't be enough to motivate someone to commit murder, after all.

"I see. If that's the case, then Nagasawa-san and Haruaki-san would be the most likely suspects." Megure mused, a frown crossing his features. "By the way, Hattori-kun, it appears that Haruaki-san seems to have something against you. Did something happen before I got here?"

"Ah, well," Half not expecting that question, Heiji blinked a little. Sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, he gave the Inspector a slightly awkward laugh. Goddamn it, he was trying to keep this part of life _far away_ from police eyes. "When they were tryin' ta film some things, apparently I kept on settin' off that doodad of his. That electromagnetic field detector or whatever. He got pretty mad at me."

"I see." Although that explanation was a bit curious, he nevertheless seemed to accept it without much thought. "By the way, what exactly are the three of you doing here in the first place? Not to mention your friend over there. I have to say though, he looks remarkably like Kudo-kun. I was quite surprised."

"They don't look _that_ much alike." Heiji muttered underneath his breath, in spite of the fact that _he'd_ been the one to call Kaito a doppelganger the first time they'd met. And judging from the look that Kaito shot him, he knew that he half wanted to call him out on that fact.

Still though, did he _really_ look that much like that missing high school detective? That was rather interesting to note, Kaito thought to himself. Perhaps he should make use of it in the future.

"A classmate of mine called myself and Hattori-kun here to check something out for them." Hakuba told him. He didn't quite know what to feel when he'd learned from Kaito that the reason Heiji had come here in the first place was because Akako also told him to come- or how he felt about the fact that he apparently had known the girl for some time. "Well, I doubt it's related to this case, however."

"I see." With a nod of his head, Megure glanced over towards the corpse. "Well, of course, we'd appreciate your help with this case, Hakuba-kun, Hattori-kun."

"Ya can count on it, Inspector!" Flashing him a broad grin, Heiji used it to mask his glance back towards the mirror, watching it warily. "Hopefully we'll wrap this case up right quick!"  
________________________________________________________________

When the corpse was finally transported away, Heiji felt himself breathing a little bit easier. It didn't calm the evil spirit any, but it did mean that less people would be lingering around the mirror. He couldn't help but be worried that whatever was in there might try and snatch anyone who came to close to it up, or even worse- might attempt to possess them, so he had been lingering around it for as long as the forensics team was. It had earned him some odd looks from both the Inspector and Hakuba alike- but he'd remained rooted firmly where he was.

Thankfully, Conan hadn't questioned it too much when Heiji had pleaded with him to do a buddy a favor, and be his eyes and ears in the rest of the house. He seemed to sense that Heiji was worried about _something_ , even if that something wasn't something that he could understand or even comprehend. Right now, the boy had scurried off, asking some questions of Kawasaki Aki about the ongoing feud- and trying to dig for what the deeper issue might be.

"So that's the mirror that Akako wanted you to get for her?"

Slightly startled at the sound of Kaito's voice, half wondering when he'd entered the room, Heiji took a second to compose himself again. Man, but that guy could move quietly if he wanted to. Glancing around and noticing that they were currently alone in the room, save for Kaito's ghostly companion, he narrowed his eyes slightly. "Yeah, that's it. It's a creepy thing, isn't it?"

"Sounds exactly like the sort of thing that she'd want." Kaito couldn't help but observe. It frankly gave him the creeps, all the more so because Heiji was paying so much attention to it- more than he had been paying attention to the murder case, really, though he was still involving himself in that. That fact, and the fact that Akako wanted it alone were enough to tell Kaito that the thing was bad news- even if it had nothing to do with the case at hand.

"You know she's a witch, right?" Kaito asked, deciding to stop beating around the bush.

" _Yep_." Heiji replied, giving him a nod of his head, not the least bit thrown off by the question. He'd already long since guessed Kaito knew the truth about that girl, after all. "So ya know about it too, huh, Kuroba?"

"Boy don't I ever." Kaito couldn't help but grumble, recalling the trouble that she had caused for him. "So you're... _what_ , exactly, Hattori-kun? She told me she wasn't hiring you as a detective, after all."

"I'm a detective." Heiji's reply was noncommittal, giving him a slight shrug of his shoulders. "High school detective of the west, Hattori Heiji. That's me."

"What's a guardian?" Kaito asked, casting a slight look towards him. It was a gamble really- and judging from the quick way that Heiji's gaze sharpened, his full attention now fixing itself on him, he could only hope that it was one that paid off. The more time he spent around him, the more curious he found him- he hadn't missed the odd way his gaze would sometimes trail just past him, fixing on something behind him that Kaito himself couldn't see.

"Where did ya hear about somethin' like _that_ , Kuroba? Ya don't seem like the type ta involve yerself much in that sort of thing." Heiji asked, a hint of a warning tone to his voice. "It should _stay_ that way."

"I overheard it." Kaito said simply. "That's all. I have no reason to ask other than mere curiosity, Hattori-kun."

"Overheard, huh?" Tilting his head to one side, Heiji cast an assessing look towards the young man. Somehow he didn't doubt that was the truth, but the question remained when and where he had heard something about that. "I thought there was some reason Koizumi dragged ya along with her ta meet me. I have no reason ta answer yer questions, ya know. I don't even know ya, Kuroba."

"That's fair." Kaito admitted after a moment, giving a slight shrug of his shoulders. Sensing that it wouldn't be a good idea to continue to push the subject, he decided to change it. "So what's in there, then?" He asked, turning his attention towards the mirror. "Something bad?"

"Real bad, from the looks of it." Heiji observed, turning his attention towards the mirror. If anything, that was a huge understatement. It's tint had been steadily turning darker and darker- it was a wonder nobody else noticed it. Then again, those sorts of things tended to slip away from the notice of people without his kind of senses. "The murder case made it even angrier, an' that anger is givin' it fuel, so ta speak. S'real nasty. Somethin' must've happened in this house, years ago."

"I had to walk past this house every day in elementary school. It was already long abandoned since then." Kaito told him, narrowing his eyes. He didn't know what it was that Heiji saw when he turned his gaze towards the mirror- but even he could tell that there was something off about it. "Well, there weren't stories about people disappearing and returning with warped personalities back then, though. At least not that any I heard about."

"Is that so?" Heiji asked, a slight note of interest in his words- before he changed the topic to what interested him all the more, quickly closing the gap between the two of them. He might only have a few inches of height over Kaito, but he was putting it to good use- though he couldn't help but notice that the magician seemed surprisingly _difficult_ to intimidate. "An' why are ya so interested in me anyways, Kuroba? Ya know the fact that ya think I'm anythin' but a detective is a big red flag fer me, right?"

"I'm interested because you're an interesting person." Kaito replied simply, before a hint of a grin made it's way onto his face. "Besides, I wanted to see what kind of guy it was that could have ruffled Hakuba's feathers so badly. You _definitely_ don't disappoint in that regard, Hattori-kun."

"What, has that guy been talkin' about me behind my back?" Heiji couldn't help but glower slightly at the question, which earned him a slight flinch from Kaito, as he suddenly recalled he'd been trying not to mention that fact. " _Honestly_. Anyways, come on, Kuroba. I can't leave ya in here, an' I got a case ta go help solve, an' I've spent more than enough time lingerin' around in here as it is, so let's move already."

"Is it fine to leave it alone?" Kaito asked, briefly glancing over towards it. For a second, he swore he noticed something shifting inside of the mirror, and gulped, quickly turning his gaze away from it. "Won't something bad happen?"

"As long as nobody's stupid enough to go anywhere near it, it'll be fine." Heiji told him. Something bad would happen doubtlessly before long, but by that point, him just being in the room wouldn't be enough to stop it. It was better to try and resolve the murder case and get everyone else out of the house, than to waste time lingering around here. It'd be different if he had any skill at sealing stuff, though. "C'mon, move yer feet."

Not wanting to do anything to turn the Osakan's somewhat infamous temper towards him, Kaito readily complied.  
_______________________________________________________________________

"So? Did ya learn anythin' Kudo?" Pulling aside his shrunken friend the first chance that he got, Heiji crouched down beside him, dropping his voice once more. "Ya listened in on their questionin', didn't ya?"

"They all spoke freely about the feud, though they all claimed it wasn't putting them on bad terms with each other. Nagasawa-san said that it started because their ratings were beginning to slide." Conan noted, almost half glad to see Heiji emerge from the crime scene, half wondering if he'd glued himself in place by that mirror. Dimly recalling what he'd claimed his reason for coming to this house in the first place was, he couldn't help but wonder if that was the mirror in question- and frankly, he didn't doubt it. If there was such a thing as witches, then a mirror with such a creepy look to it as that would definitely be something that they would want. Still, he supposed it didn't so much matter right now, even if whatever was worrying Heiji was obviously still eating at him.

"But whatever that other issue is, nobody mentioned a thing. I tried to press Kawasaki-san about it, and it made him really nervous, really fast. There's definitely _something_ though." Conan mused. "I looked into their past activities as well." He'd actually had to leave the house in order to do just that- the moment he'd stepped outside, his phone had suddenly begun to work normally. It was odd- it had been working just fine before the murder had happened. "I couldn't help but notice that they suddenly seemed to cancel an episode around a month ago, right after they had showed up to film it. See, here?"

Bringing up the information he'd saved to his phone, he showed it to Heiji, who quickly scanned over it. "An'? Ya think it might be related somehow?"

"The crew says that both the feud and the tense air between them started around a month ago, so it's possible. I looked up the place they were supposed to film, and apparently it used to be an old tuberculoses ward in the past." Conan told him. "The times match up, so I think it might be related somehow, but as for how..."

"It's hard ta say from just that." Heiji mused, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Maybe they found somethin' at the filmin' location?"

"It's possible." Conan said, tucking his phone back away. "As for the three suspects themselves, the strangest one is definitely Haruaki-san." He noted- and at the sympathetic look he shot up towards Heiji, and the reassuring hand he placed on his shoulder, he had a feeling where this was about to go. "He keeps trying to argue that _you're_ tied to this case somehow, Hattori."

"Let me guess. He's still tryin' ta say a ghost did it." Heiji noted, a rather disgruntled noise escaping from his lips. "An' he's tryin' ta say that I'm... I dunno, not what I seem or somethin'."

"Well, that's probably true, isn't it? That last part at least." Conan couldn't help but quip, casting a pointed look in his direction- to which Heiji could only give him a slightly sheepish shrug of his shoulders. "But obviously, you've got nothing to do with this case. Well, even though that makes him the most suspicious sounding one, he might very well believe what he's saying. Kawasaki-san seems rather nervous himself, but I guess it's also a bit odd how normal Nagasawa-san seems, all things considered." There was a pause then, as Conan cast a considering look towards him. "Why _do_ you make that electromagnetic field detector act strange anyways, Hattori?"

"It's not like I'm doin' it on purpose." Heiji grumbled, folding his arms in front of his chest. "How ta put it... it's because I'm _different_ , I guess. Ya figured that much out about me already, right? Anyways, that doesn't matter right now. What matters right now is finishin' this case up real quick, before-"

As Heiji's words seemingly died in his throat, he shot straight up to his feet, a clear expression of near panic crossing his face. Searching around the house, he swore underneath his breath, almost seeming to sense something that was beyond the shrunken detective by his side.

"Hattori? Is something wrong?" Conan asked, his brows creasing with worry. He'd never seen _that_ kind of expression on his friend's face before, and he quickly decided that he didn't like it.

"Ya didn't feel that, Kudo?" Heiji asked, glancing down at him- before he let out a long sigh, rubbing his forehead, holding up a hand, silently telling him he didn't need to answer that. "Right, sorry. Stupid question. Of course ya didn't."

It had happened in an instant- one second, the house had been overflowing with the presence of other ghosts- before all at once, they had just vanished. A mass exodus of ghosts, something that he couldn't help but pick up on right away. And as he slowly turned his attention towards the room with the mirror, Heiji couldn't help but narrow his eyes, an unusually serious expression flashing through them.

"Aw hell, that's not _just_ an evil spirit." He half wasn't aware he was speaking out loud, honestly. He could sense it fully now, whereas it had always been somewhat hampered before, sealed within the mirror. And while even from here, he could sense that it hadn't quite escaped yet, it was true enough that it had one foot in the mirror, and one foot out, so to speak. At first he'd merely suspected that the thing had been tied to the mirror- but it would appear that wasn't quite the case.

The mirror was a seal.

And that was no evil spirit, no tragically twisted human soul gone awry- but something far worse. The whole air of the house had changed now, growing heavy and oppressive- Heiji half felt he was going to choke on it, even though it didn't seem to be effecting anyone else, judging from the thoroughly befuddled look Conan was looking at him with. That was probably for the best- the less people who were actually aware of _that thing_ , the better.

Because that, was nothing short of a bona fide _demon_.

That _goddamn witch_. He was going to give her a piece of his damn mind the next time he saw her.


	11. The Fun Part of Most Everything Involves Ample Amounts of Violence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How was it that he was the one who had been shrunken by a mysterious poison, and yet Heiji was the weird one?

Conan had come to know Hattori Heiji as a rather expressive person, the type who always wore his heart on his sleeve. And while this could cause him his fair share of problems, Conan frankly didn't mind having someone around him who was so easy to read, who wore his emotions freely for everyone see. Certainly his temper could be something of a chore to deal with at times, but it was part of what he'd come to like about his rival over the past year or so.

But never in all that time had he seen Heiji make an expression _anything_ like this one. Conan might have no idea what it was that set him off in the first place- but whatever it was, it was probably bad news.

"Hattori?" Conan spoke up, realizing that his voice hadn't caught his friend's ears. "Oi, Hattori!" He spoke up again, raising his voice again, this time managing to catch his friend's attention. Watching as Heiji looked almost startled to realize that he was still here, before a long look of consideration drew across his face, Conan narrowed his eyes, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck prick up.

_"Ya didn't feel that, Kudo?"_

_"Right, sorry. Stupid question. Of course ya didn't."_

What the hell was it that Heiji had apparently 'felt' that he hadn't? Casting a considering look towards the room that had fully drawn Heiji's attention, Conan's eyes narrowed, trying to pick out whatever it was. He got the vague feeling that the temperature in the house might have dropped by a few degrees- but he didn't think something as minor as that would have caused such an expression to cross Heiji's face. It had to be something else.

Although he was willing to bet the temperature drop was _probably_ related.

Turning back to face Heiji, Conan locked eyes with him, his own narrowing in thought as he did so. "Did something happen, Hattori?"

"Ah, well..." Trailing off a little, his eyes darting back towards the room- it was both the scene of the crime, as well as the location of what was probably the mirror that Heiji was supposed to be looking into. For a _witch_ , of all things, he had said. When he'd told him such a thing was absurd, Heiji hadn't gone so far as to laugh at him, but he'd definitely been amused at his adamant denial.

Any trace of teasing and amusement were gone from the Osakan detective's voice now, leaving behind only a mix of concern- and a trace of anger he thought, though Conan didn't think it was so much directed at him as it was someone else. Maybe the witch that Heiji had mentioned before- or perhaps the murderer behind this latest case. Potentially _both_.

"No, nothin' happened, Kudo!" Able to pinpoint the very moment where Heiji decided that he wasn't going to tell him the truth about whatever it was that had earned such a never before seen reaction from him, Conan couldn't help but narrow his eyes, even as his friend flashed him a wide grin. "What are ya talkin' about? We've got a case ta solve right now, so let's not worry about anythin' else aside from that, shall we?"

" _Hattori_." Conan began, not missing the way his friend flinched slightly at his sharp tone- before he heaved a long sigh, rubbing his forehead. Somehow he got the feeling that trying to force his involvement into whatever it was that was worrying Heiji at the moment _wouldn't_ help him.

He was coming to understand more and more that whatever it was that Heiji was mixed up in outside of his usual detective work, it really was something that was beyond Conan's understanding. That said, he did want to attempt to try and understand it- even if it meant abandoning the beliefs that he'd held for his entire lifetime. Be careful of clinging too closely to previously held beliefs, indeed. More and more the fortune he'd gotten at that shrine was turning out to be spot on.

Briefly, he couldn't help but recall that Heiji had also gotten a bad fortune from the shrine- and suddenly, he couldn't help but wonder what it was.

"W-what is it, Kudo?" Heiji stammered, averting his eyes from his shrunken friend, gaze darting around literally anywhere but there. "Shouldn't ya go look up information about that filmin' location we were just talkin' about? Ya know, the one they suddenly decided not ta shoot at, right around the time when they started ta have their fight?"

Casting his friend a long look, Conan finally let out another long sigh, breaking eye contact with him, noticing out of the corner of his eyes the way that Heiji's shoulders slumped in relief as he did so. He'd press him about all of this later, but something told him that now was not the time to be doing so- and if he didn't miss his guess, Heiji was all but trying to rush Conan out of the house, since he'd have to do just that to check the information on his phone.

He got the feeling that Heiji knew full well why the house had suddenly become a reception dead zone, and why it was that his own phone was the only one that worked. He decided to save his questions regarding that for a bit later as well, once everything was wrapped up. Both the case, and whatever the hell it was that Heiji had come here to do in the first place- which seemed to be more than running an errand for a supposed witch.

Haruaki Souji was probably right about one thing- that Hattori Heiji was definitely _not_ what he seemed to be at first glance. But what Conan knew was true was the fact that he was an almost stupidly honest idiot, who was earnest and frank with his emotions, and cared perhaps a little _too_ much for the people in his life that he had decided to value. If Heiji was anything more than that, anything _other_ than that, well... it wasn't like it erased the truth that Conan had already come to know well about him.

All it meant was the fact that he was perhaps a _little_ more complex than he had first expected.

"You're right." Conan said finally, giving his friend something of a reassuring grin, watching as a look of relief bloomed in his eyes. "That's a good place to start. Between the two of us and Hakuba, we'll probably be able to wrap this case up soon enough. After all, there was something a bit strange in the words of that person..."

"Ah, ya noticed that as well?" Heiji blinked, a more familiar grin crossing his friend's face, one that Conan was almost glad to see. "I've been thinkin' about that myself too. Well then!" Clapping his hands together, his grin only growing as Heiji placed said hands on Conan's shoulder, literally turning him around to face the staircase. "I'll see ya soon, Kudo! Good luck!"

"Hattori." Conan paused, casting a glance up towards him. "Are you going to do something weird while I'm gone?"

"Define _weird_ , Kudo." Heiji said after a moment, a considering look in his eyes.

"Anything you would consider normal that I wouldn't." Conan told him frankly, watching as his friend couldn't help but snort at his words.

"Yeah, in that case, I'm definitely about ta do somethin' weird." Heiji told him frankly, a quick grin gracing his features. "But well, I've got good reason fer it so, uh, it's best if ya just go along with it."

"Somehow I get the feeling I don't have very many options here _but_ to." Conan dryly observed, before shaking his head. "Well, good luck to you as well then I suppose, Hattori. Whatever it is you're up to, be careful yourself."

"Cross my heart, Kudo." Heiji promised him, patting him on the back, before folding his arms in front of his chest, giving him a rather cheeky grin. "An' promise not ta die."  
___________________________________________________________

Wataru Takagi had seen any number of strange things while working with division one- especially lately, within the past year or so. But this? This probably took the cake. He'd been anticipating the disbelieving look that his report would earn him from Inspector Megure, one that had persisted until he had shown the portly Inspector the scene of the crime himself- or at the very least, where the scene of the crime should have been.

He had dealt with any number of strange cases with equally strange tricks, but this was probably the first time an entire room had just completely _disappeared_. The only person who didn't look flabbergasted by this strange turn of events was Hattori Heiji- at least, not until he caught people looking at him, and then he tried to pull the worst attempt at acting like he was that Takagi had ever seen in his life.

"It couldn't have just _disappeared_." Hakuba Saguru was saying, carefully placing his hands against the wall where he knew, logically, the door leading to the crime scene should have been. Ever since Heiji had knocked it off of it's hinges, it had been left there, hanging by them, nobody really seeing the sense in trying to fix it- so shutting the door should have been impossible in and of itself- nevermind making it appear as if the room just didn't exist in the first place.

It had to be some kind of trick, some kind of clever illusion- the entrance to the room was probably still here, he just had to feel it out, figure out where it had been hidden, figure out what kind of mechanism had been used to conceal it from them in the first place. Perhaps there was a secret, secondary door built into the wall that had been slid in place by someone. He wasn't certain who, all of the suspects had been gathered in the same room, with both the Inspector and himself keeping watch over them.

Nor did he understand for what reason- the corpse had already been found and taken away, and the scene had already been examined- unless there was something that the culprit realized that they had missed, and wanted to prevent them from checking into further. But wouldn't doing something like this only allow the police and the gathered detectives to draw such a conclusion in the first place? It didn't make any sense.

What made even less sense though, was that no matter how much he looked, no matter how much he carefully traced his hands up and down the wall where the doorway should be, he couldn't even find one trace of it. It was, quite frankly, as if the room had simply disappeared.

He must have shot some kind of look towards Kaito in the middle of his search, because he found the magician by his side, carefully studying the area himself. Perhaps there was something that the magician could pick up on that Hakuba himself wouldn't be able to- and for a brief moment, he was almost grateful that he was here.

But when Kaito glanced up at him, giving him a rather befuddled shake of his head, Hakuba's brows only furrowed more. It was one thing for him not to be able to find a trace of the trick used to hide the room, but for even the likes of _Kuroba Kaito_ \- who was very likely Kaito Kid, if he didn't miss his guess, was something else entirely. Allowing his gaze to trail over towards Heiji, who he couldn't help but notice briefly flinched the moment his eyes fell on him, he couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't even shown the slightest ounce of curiosity in relation to the suddenly missing room.

Surely _he_ couldn't have- no, no. That would be absurd. Rash and impulsive though he might be, Heiji was every inch the same kind of detective as Hakuba was- there would have been no reason for him to suddenly try and hide the crime scene like this. Nor did he think Heiji had the capability to do something on this scale to begin with- certainly the Osakan detective was clever, but he doubted that he'd be capable of thinking up a trick that could fool even the likes of (probably) Kaito Kid.

Even if he _had_ been the only member of their party that nobody had been watching, especially not since that Edogawa Conan child had apparently gone outside the mansion, to look up some things on his phone. Catching a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, Hakuba took notice that the boy in question was just only now returning, cellphone in hand, a troubled expression on his face- before he looked up, and noticed that everyone was gathered in the hallway.

"Did I miss something?" Conan couldn't help but ask, a brief look of confusion crossing his face- before his gaze almost instinctively trailed over towards the crime scene. Or where it should have been, really. The moment that Conan noticed that the doorway was now missing, and that it appeared almost as if there had never been a room there to begin with, his eyes narrowed, for a moment, almost seeming to fight the urge to turn his gaze in a certain direction.

Towards _Heiji_ , Hakuba couldn't help but note, a slight look of confusion crossing his own face. Was there something going on here that he was missing?

"The, ah, crime scene appears to have gone missing." Takagi was the one who spoke up, answering the question even though he knew Conan had come to understand the situation quite well. "Hakuba-kun and his friend here have tried looking for it but it seems we've somehow managed to misplace it."

For lack of a better word.

"Ah." Conan said simply, clicking his tongue a little as he tucked his phone back away in his pocket. Briefly exchanging a glance with Heiji, Conan couldn't help but wonder if this is what he had meant by doing something weird- which, yes, making the entire crime scene vanish into thin air was definitely something that he would file under weird. Impressive, but also _definitely_ weird.

Heiji had told him that he had good reason for it, and Conan could only assume that he was telling the truth. He got the feeling that whatever said reason was, it had nothing to do with the case, and everything to do with the mirror that also happened to be in the room with the corpse.

"First we can't get through to the police on our phones, then the front door won't open, and now an entire room just _disappears_?" It was Nagasawa Kazuya that had spoke up, Conan took note, and the man all but looked ready to tear out his hair. "What the hell is _with_ this house?"

"I thought this sorta thing was supposed ta be yer area of expertise." Heiji couldn't help but quip, unable to mask the slight amused expression that rose to his face. Judging from the way that Conan was looking at him, he knew full well that his friend had already realized that he was the one behind this- and from the look that Kaito had sent towards him as he came to the conclusion that no, he couldn't find the secret behind this trick, he had a feeling that the magician suspected him as well. "But well, what else can ya expect from a bunch of frauds?"

"I don't suppose _you_ have anything to do with this, do you?" It was Haruaki Souji who spoke this time, turning a sharp gaze towards Heiji- though he flinched the moment the Osakan detective looked towards him, locking eyes with him. "You and whatever is in this house are probably in cahoots."

"Okay, one, this is literally the first time I've ever been here in my life." Heiji began, lifting up a single finger, which was soon joined by another. Okay, so the dude was right about the first part, but he wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of that. Besides, he did have a reputation to keep here, and he wasn't about to let it falter now. "An' two, _seriously_ dude, what do ya have against me anyways?"

"Well that's-" Souji began.

"That's not really important right now." Hakuba spoke up, placing himself between the two of them, almost feeling as if he were supervising children, not someone his own age and someone nearly a good ten or twenty years older than them. "Inspector, for the moment, I believe we should take the suspects back to the room we were keeping them in the first place. I'll look into the mystery behind the missing room for a little longer."

"I'll go with you, Inspector!" Conan chirped, glancing towards the suspects, his gaze fixing on one in particular. He had managed to find some rather interesting rumors about the old tuberculosis ward that they were supposed to film at around a month ago, only to suddenly cancel, and one of them in particular had caught his interest. Should such a rumor be actually true, and if they had really stumbled upon such a truth, Conan could imagine that something like that would spark an argument between them- _especially_ if some of them were looking to profit off the find, to save their show from their gradually declining ratings.

Needless to say, there were a few new questions that he wanted to ask of them. He'd worry about whatever the hell Heiji had pulled to make an entire room disappear later- there was probably a good reason behind it, just as he'd said, even if Conan had no idea what that might be.

How was it that _he_ was the one who had been shrunken by a mysterious poison, and yet _Heiji_ was the weird one?  
_________________________________________________________

"So can all detectives use magic, or is it just you?"

"String a damn bell around yer neck or somethin' Kuroba, the hell do you keep doin' that?" Suddenly getting the distinct impression of why the way that he often showed up out of the blue bothered people who didn't know him all that well, Heiji cast a glance back towards Kaito, quirking a brow. "An' what makes ya think I can use magic? Aren't _you_ the one that's supposed ta be the magician here?"

"I have quiet footsteps." Kaito observed, a quick grin flashing across his face, before he rolled his eyes. "I might not be a detective, Hattori-kun, but I know enough to know that you and Akako are in the same camp."

"I take offense to the implications of that statement." Heiji observed, narrowing his eyes. "I'm _nothin_ ' like Koizumi."

"That wasn't quite what I meant." Kaito noted. "I just meant that the two of you are involved on the side of _real_ magic and not just," With a quick wave of his hand, Kaito released a slight burst of confetti, "...the tricks of a skilled and clever magician."

"Modest too, I see." Heiji couldn't help but observe, a slight grin quirking at the edge of his lips. "But fine, yer right. But to answer yer question, generally speakin', no. It's just me." He admitted, folding his arms in front of his chest, casting a brief wary eye towards the room he'd sealed off. It was still there, of course, but all it had taken to fool the senses of both great detective and a so-called magician alike was a simple illusion spell, with an extra sensory touch added to it.

Trick the brain into thinking a door has disappeared, and those looking for it usually won't try and force against the feeling of solid wood brushing against their fingertips. If they had, the would have found that they would have been able to pass through effortlessly into the room- for the moment, he could use this measure to buy time, and hopefully keep anyone from entering the room with the mirror. That thing needed some kind of host to get itself all the way out- and he wasn't about to let anyone wander in there and become one.

"Ah." Kaito arched his brows, glancing over towards the disappeared room, before looking back towards Heiji. "So I would be correct in assuming that you had something to do with that after all, didn't you? I was a bit distressed when I assumed it was just a clever trick, but I'll admit, knowing that real magic's the culprit behind it does make it a bit easier to swallow."

"Magician's pride, or somethin', huh?" Heiji couldn't help but ask, quirking a slight grin towards Kaito. He was a rather curious fellow in his own right, and Heiji couldn't really find it in him to dislike him- even if he did ask too many questions that Heiji really didn't care to answer. He was sure what it was that he had done to catch Kaito's attention in the first place, nor how he had managed to hear the term _Guardian_ anywhere, but all in all, he was far more of an agreeable fellow than the likes of his classmates.

He was pretty damn sure he had no idea what the term actually meant. Considering that he was an outsider, that didn't really surprise him.

"You could say that." Kaito gave him a slightly placid smile. "So what are you exactly, Hattori-kun? And don't say detective this time."

"I mean, I _am_ a detective." Heiji said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I'm just other stuff too."

"Like a guardian?" Kaito inquired, only showing the vaguest hint of the flinch that he felt as Heiji turned a rather sharp gaze towards him, schooling his expression into obedience. "I'm only curious, Hattori-kun. It's not as if I'm going to go out and spread strange rumors about you."

"An' why _are_ ya so curious, Kuroba?" Heiji observed. "We've never met before, after all." With a slight pause, Heiji's brow furrowed a little, as he placed a hand on his chin, taking a slight step closer towards him, peering into his eyes. "At least, I don't think we have. Unless, perhaps, I'm wrong?"

There was _one_ person that Heiji had cause to cross paths with recently whose interest he might have caught, after all. If Akako had gone to the Dragon's Egg heist with more than just an interest in the egg itself in mind, if she had some kind of interest in the phantom thief who was supposed to be stealing it, like he gathered from her words, then...

No way.

"We haven't, I assure you." Kaito said simply, his poker face fully raised up, concealing the pounding of his own heart as Heiji studied his face a little more closely than he would have liked. If it really was the detective of the west who had been behind the disappearing Dragon's Egg, then he probably would have had ample time to get a good look at Kaito Kid's face, so the less he studied the face of Kuroba Kaito, the better, really.

"If ya say so." Heiji said with a simple shrug of his shoulders, stepping back. Well, even if that was really the case, he was hardly in a position to rat him out himself. If he was right, then there was only one reason why he might have caught the attention of the white clad phantom thief to begin with- and that was his _own_ activities from that night. Which were of course, better if they never came to light. "Ya really should stop hangin' around Koizumi, though."

"Believe me, I would if I could." Kaito said simply. "But my childhood friend likes her, thinks of her as a friend."

"Koizumi's got friends?" Heiji's brow shot straight up, a skeptical look crossing his face. "Yer childhood friend must be a damn saint, Kuroba."

Snorting at the description of Aoko being a saint, Kaito shook his head. "So? What are you going to do about whatever it is that's in the mirror? It must be something pretty bad if you sealed off the room entirely."

The fierce grin that crossed Heiji's face at his question truly brought home just how much of an opposite the detective of the west was to Hakuba. "My job, of course."  
___________________________________________________________

If there was one thing about this whole affair that was insanely frustrating, it was watching Hakuba take what Heiji felt should have rightfully been _his_ spot. Standing next to Kudo and chatting with the shrunken detective about the case was where he should be right about now- and would be, if he didn't have other things to focus on right now. Things that were, admittedly, a little more critically important than a murder case.

He might have admitted to Kudo that he hadn't _originally_ set out to be a detective at first, much as it had been his childhood dream. But it was true enough that he loved being one- solving a case was like a rush to him, sometimes to the point that he would drown everything out that wasn't involved with it. There was one thing that he never forgot in the middle of everything, however- and that was what his actual duty was. The actual reason why he existed, here and now, what he had been put on this earth to do in the first place.

That all sounded a bit overdramatic, but it was _hardly_ an exaggeration.

There was a reason that Hattori Shizuka had been called to that place, the place where he had been born, seventeen years ago. There was a reason too, why it had been her, out of everyone who could have heard the call, that ended up responding. It was the right place for him, the right location for him. Osaka was a city rich with history, and also a city that sat smack on the middle of the largest boundary line in all of Japan, one which the Hattori household sat practically right on top of and had for generations.

Which was again, _hilarious_ , given what a staunch skeptic his father was. Funnier by far was just what kind of son he'd ended up raising in the first place, all while holding the firm belief that there was nothing truly supernatural in the world. The fact that he put faith in Heiji at all was touching, really, and while he never changed his staunch skeptic views even as their son struggled with seeing things that nobody else could, he never once gave Heiji the same feeling of disbelief and disapproval that he'd gotten from so many other adults.

 _He_ might not believe in it, but if his son said that he could see something in the corner of the room that he couldn't, then he believed _him_ , and wouldn't complain when Heiji insisted that he wasn't going to go anywhere near it. Granted, Heiji kind of wished that the place he had been born hadn't waited twelve or so years to call him back to where everything had begun for him, leaving him to puzzle out why he was so different from everyone else on his own, but hey- better late than never, he guessed.

The explanation that he had gotten was a bit shocking, all things considered, though he had long since come to accept the truth as an easy thing. It answered so many of his questions, and he saw no reason to reject it. Some aspects of it were a little harder to accept at first than others, but such a time had long since passed, and he'd grown comfortable in his own skin in a way he never truly had been before.

When you understood that the reason as to why you were different than everyone else you knew was because of the fact that you _weren't_ actually quite human, everything actually became somewhat easier in turn. The container was perfectly human, he'd been told- but the contents were something _entirely_ different. And if the truth came with a duty that he couldn't escape from, one that had been set in stone from the day he had been born, then he could live with that.

There were pieces of the truth that he didn't want anyone else to know- namely just how _long_ he'd been sleeping in that place, waiting for someone to find him. That he had nothing to do with himself- his own blood mother had everything to do with it, hoping that the very last of them would carry on their wishes to the distant future, a time in which she could not even begin to imagine. Technically speaking, Heiji supposed he was the very last of his kind- not that it bothered him much. From the sound of it, his kind had been rapidly falling into depravity- which was why they had been all but wiped out in the first place.

Which was why he had so staunchly vowed to not use any of his own magic to directly interfere with human affairs in the first place. He wouldn't even break such a vow for Kudo, though it was tempting at times- one wrong step and it would be all too easy for him to head down the wrong path, so he vowed never to do it, no matter how tempting it was- not unless someone's life was on the line, at the very least. That he got the feeling he would break his self imposed vow for.

There were more things in this world than his good friend and rival knew- and Heiji was one of those very things himself. It was that, more than anything, that required him to set such a condition on the truth such as Kudo having to uncover it himself, otherwise he knew that he would never believe him. Unlike Heiji, who was born and bred into this world, Kudo didn't believe in the supernatural, and probably never had. If he didn't work to chip away at that disbelief first, he knew exactly what kind of reaction the truth would get him from his friend.

Not something that he wanted to see.

Kazuha, who had grown up with him, who knew him better than anyone else in the world, had accepted the truth with ease- with surprise to be sure, but also with ease. Then she'd punched him in the gut for keeping things from her for so long, when they were so important, which he admitted that he had deserved.

Begrudgingly sensing that Hakuba and Conan _more_ than had this situation handled, Heiji watched the two of them for only a moment longer- before he quietly crept out of the room, slipping out before anyone noticed he was gone. Placing a hand on the door, a crackle of golden sparks danced from his hand, as he turned his attention back towards the room that he had hidden from sight, his eyes narrowing. Casting away the illusion that he had used to conceal the room from view, Heiji took in and let out a deep breath, before a fearsome grin crossed his face, feeling his blood boiling in anticipation at what lay before him.

Demon though it may be, dealing with such ilk- those creatures from beyond the boundary line who decided to interfere with the human world in malicious ways- was quite literally, what he had been born to do in the first place. It was his role in the world, one of many, just as being a high school detective was, and just as being Kazuha's childhood friend was, just as being Kudo Shinichi's trusted friend and ally was.

Trust that he really ought to repay back to him sometime soon- because he could sense that the time was coming soon when he would be able to confess everything to his friend- from what it was that he did when he wasn't looking, to what it was that he was.

"Right then." Turning his full attention towards the mirror, Heiji couldn't help but let a glint of excitement dance in his eyes. This was always the _fun_ part of his duty- when he could fight without having to hold back. "How about you an' I have a nice little chat then, ya damn demon?"  
______________________________________________________________

Hakuba Saguru felt like he was on the cusp of getting a headache.

First the door to the room they had all gathered in simply refused to open, no matter what they did. Given the fact that they had managed to corner the culprit behind the murder, they had ever reason to need the door to open. There had been a very good reason as to why Haruaki Souji had been so insistent that something supernatural had been involved in the case, and it was that which had first roused Hakuba's suspicion towards him. He had very little sympathy for the man, not when his motivation involved wanting to use the mass grave of long dead tuberculosis patients that they had discovered at the filming location they had canceled their shoot at to let the ratings of their show skyrocket, rather than report it to the police.

Hokusai Reiko and Kawasaki Aki had been against it from the very start, insisting that they should take this information to the police- and they were about to, even though it appeared that Souji held some kind of card over the pair. That was when Souji decided to kill them- and he fully intended to kill the both of them, which was in part why Aki had bit his tongue, fearing for his own life.

Most curious was the fact that while the deduction show was going on, Heiji was nowhere to be found. Even more curious than that, however, was the fact that when they finally got the door open, they soon discovered that the room that had gone missing had apparently come back- and that in the time they had been locked inside the room across the hall, the mirror that the corpse had been leaning up against had been shattered into pieces. The entire room actually appeared to have been trashed, deep cuts and gashes on the walls and furniture.

It was also only then that Heiji had finally resurfaced, kneeling down next to Conan and asking him how everything went with a curious look in his eyes. When Conan paused to whisper a question to him that Hakuba couldn't quite catch, Heiji had just broke out into a wide grin, patting the kid's shoulder and giving him a loud burst of laughter. For his part, the child had just rolled his eyes, an exasperated expression crossing his face.

When asked if he had anything to do with the current state of the crime scene, or the missing door from earlier, Souji had just shot Hakuba a dirty look, telling him that he had nothing to do with that. He had thought his insistence that Heiji had anything to do with the odd things that had been going on in the house was just part of his act- taking advantage of the odd reaction of his electromagnetic field detector around the Osakan detective to string together some kind of foolish story.

But perhaps there was more to it than that.

"Hattori-kun, might I have a word with you?" Hakuba finally asked, approaching the pair.

"Hakuba!" Heiji almost seemed to perk up as the half-British detective approached him, a wide smile on his face- before he clapped his hands together, casting an outright glower towards him. " _No_."

Slightly flabbergasted at the outright refusal, he could only vaguely make out the squeak of protest that escaped Conan's lips as Heiji scooped him up, tucking him underneath one arm and all but carried him away. The sound of Kaito's snort was something he caught a good deal more easily, and found himself shooting the magician a slight glower of his own.

It wasn't until they were out of the mansion and well out of earshot of Hakuba that Heiji finally set Conan back down, the shrunken detective's look of complete offense at having been transported in such an undignified way completely washing over him without so much as sinking into him even a little. Dirty look turning into an exasperated sigh, Conan carefully studied the one who had somehow or another managed to become his best friend, watching as the dark skinned young man knelt down in front of him, a bright smile on his face as if he hadn't somehow locked them all in a room and then proceeded to trash another one.

With some kind of bladed object, from the looks of it, and he couldn't help but wonder where Heiji was even hiding such a thing. He didn't seem to be carrying any kind of sword on him, at the very least, and there didn't seem to be any found in the house itself. And he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, without even having to ask, that Heiji had everything to do with the odder events that took place in the mansion.

"I thought you said you were trying to obtain that mirror for a witch." Conan said finally.

"I never said that." Heiji said frankly. "I only said that I was lookin' into it for her. I don't even _like_ that damn witch." He told him, a slight glower in his expression. "She sent all four of us here an' straight into danger without so much as even a warnin'. Let me tell ya, if I hadn't been there, things would have gotten _way_ out of hand."

"Besides, I did get a piece of it, an' that's all that really matters." Heiji noted, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the shard of the mirror that he had secured within his handkerchief. At the sight of it, and at the disgruntled sound that Conan made, Heiji could only grin a little, tucking it back away. "C'mon Kudo, I did warn ya that things were gonna get a lot weirder the deeper ya dove. Did ya think I was makin' that up?"

"I underestimated _how_ weird." Conan admitted. "My mistake, obviously." With a long sigh, he rubbed his forehead, trying to deal with the increasing feeling of a headache that this day had been giving him. Whatever it was that had been plaguing Heiji had seemed to have vanished without a trace, leaving behind the usual cheerful and energetic Osakan detective in it's wake.

"What exactly did you do, Hattori?" Conan asked. "And no lies."

Slightly glancing away from Conan, Heiji rubbed the back of his neck, wondering how best to phrase things. "I uh, took care of the problem that Hakuba got sent there ta investigate."

"And that involved trashing the room and breaking the mirror?" Conan couldn't help but note, quirking a brow. "With what, exactly? Don't tell me you've taken to carrying knives with you."

"I mean, I've got a few of those tucked away, because they can come in handy sometimes, but I actually used a sword, this time." Heiji replied frankly, a mischievous grin dancing across his lips as an incredulous expression crossed Conan's face. "An' yer obviously wonderin' where they all are."

"Well, yes and no." Conan admitted after a moment. "Yes, I'm curious, and no, somehow I'd really rather not know, Hattori. I get the feeling the answer will only give me a headache." Closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, Conan peeked one eye open. "Hattori, you're _really_ not like other people, are you?"

"I'm one of a kind." Heiji was quick to say, his smile only growing all the wider as he did so. "I mean, does it really matter that much anyways? At the end of the day, I'm still Hattori Heiji. That's the most important truth, isn't it? That one truth or whatever it is that ya like ta keep goin' on about."

The slight smile that made it's way onto Conan's face was a rather genuine one, as he dropped his hand away from his nose. "I guess that's true. You'll tell me though, won't you, Hattori? What is your one truth?"

"Are ya prepared fer it if I do?" Heiji asked- and Conan didn't miss the hint of apprehension that danced within his eyes. He'd long since grown past being a child, but such times had seemed to left their own invisible scars on Heiji. It was no mystery to him that the reason why he'd been keeping such things about himself a secret all this time was not because he didn't trust him- but because deep down, he was still afraid.

"I'm ready as I'll ever be, Hattori." Conan replied simply. "Though maybe not today. I do feel like I'm getting a bit of a headache." He admitted.

"Fair enough." Heiji snorted, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "C'mon, I'll head back with ya ta Neechan's place. Should probably say hi ta her anyways since I'm in Tokyo."

"No carrying me." Conan noted sharply, sending a glare up towards Heiji.

"Aw, yer no fun." Heiji grumbled, half joking as he tucked his hands into his pockets, his usual broad grin surfacing on his face. "Oh yeah, by the way, Kudo- did ya eat that candy that ya got from the old ladies yet?"

"No." Blinking a little at the sudden question, Conan shook his head. "I still have it though. Why do you bring it up?"

As Heiji's grin only managed to grow at his question, Conan couldn't half help but regret asking. "Eat it tomorrow, first thing in the mornin' after Neechan an' that Uncle have already left. You'll definitely be in fer a real surprise, Kudo!"


	12. BONUS: In Which Hattori Heiji Manages to Confess Literally Everything But His Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heiji makes good on his words to tell Kazuha everything- except for the most important thing, because his luck is really just that bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the "bonus" type of chapter for this story, but I definitely wouldn't recommend skipping it, especially if you'd like to know the truth, because that comes out in this chapter- just not to Conan, but to Kazuha. This was a lot of fun to write, even though it could be a little bit infodumpy in some places (no real way to avoid that, really). Turns out that this bonus chapter is just as long as a regular chapter- and for frame of reference, it takes place in the timeline of this story just before the haunted house arc.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!

"Kazuha, we need ta talk."

It wasn't all that often that she heard such a serious tone in Heiji's voice, not outside of cases, at the very least. So when she heard it now, it caught her attention right away. Placing down her pencil, a slightly confused look crossed her face as she rose to her feet, worries about her summer homework put aside for the moment.

It could wait- whatever Heiji wanted to tell her probably couldn't. Somehow, she had a feeling that she knew what it was. He had promised as much, after all, and while Heiji's track record of keeping his promises wasn't all that great, there were those among their number that he kept no matter what- and this, clearly, was one of them.

"What is it, Heiji?" Kazuha asked, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear, a curious look in her eyes. "Ya sound like it's somethin' awfully important."

"That's cause it is." Heiji told her, giving her a slight grin. "But we can't talk about it here. Why don't we head ta my place?"

"Sure." Nodding her head, Kazuha hurriedly busied herself, gathering a few of her things, tucking away her house keys in her pocket. "I don't mind, Heiji. Just let me get my shoes." She couldn't help but notice he'd skipped the step of taking his off, having shown up in her room still wearing them- come to think of it, she hadn't actually really hard him approach her room in the first place.

For someone who could be as loud as he could, there were certainly times in which he could be almost eerily quiet. A lot of his little oddities had cleared up around entering middle school, though she knew now that was because he had just gotten better at hiding them- but it wasn't until around middle school that he developed the habit of showing up out of the blue and leaving just as suddenly.

Perhaps that too, had to do with whatever it was that he had learned. When word first reached her that Heiji hadn't made it home from school that day, shortly after they had begun sixth grade, a knot of worry had formed in the pit of Kazuha's stomach. When days passed, turning into weeks, and turning into months, with no sign of him, she had begun to fear for the worst.

Perhaps it was because he could always see things that she couldn't, or perhaps because he seemed to be connected to a different part of the world than she was, she always got the strangest feeling that one of these days, he would disappear from her sight, and that she would never see him again. There were some whispers, some rumors, back when Heiji was a child, that claimed that he was a child of the spirits- an ill omen who would one day go back to where he came from. When he disappeared without a trace, everyone who believed such things seemed convinced that they were true.

Such rumors were long forgotten now, especially after Heiji began to gain a new kind of reputation- one as a high school detective. No longer did she hear the whispers of him being an ill omen or a cursed child, no longer did she hear the housewives of Heiji's neighborhood whispering in hushed tones about how one of their number had witnessed Shizuka blankly walking the streets late one night, a dark skinned baby bundled in her arms, not responding to anyone who called out to her, as if she were in a trance.

She never knew if Heiji had ever heard that particular rumor. She was almost afraid to ask.

Tucking on her shoes in the entranceway, Kazuha cast a smile back towards him, unable to help but notice how strangely quiet he was being this evening. It really wasn't like him- and for a moment, her thoughts briefly went elsewhere, back to the past once again. There were times like that too- times when Heiji would go dead quiet, simply staring blankly off into space, not responding to anyone when they called out to him. He would always come back to himself after awhile, but those moments were one of the few when even she found him to be somewhat eerie- as if the boy she was looking at wasn't actually her childhood friend at all, but a stranger she didn't know.

"Let's go, Heiji." Reaching out to take his hand, a slight smile crossed her face as he blinked a little at the sudden contact- but didn't protest to it, instead wrapping his own fingers around them.

"Ah, not that way, Kazuha." Heiji noted, halting in his tracks as Kazuha turned to the right, their linked hands holding her fast in place. "This way."

"Eh? But yer house is this way, Heiji." Kazuha blinked, an uncertain look crossing her eyes. "I thought ya said we were goin' ta yer place."

"We are." Heiji told her simply, taking a step forward, towards the left. She followed him, unthinking. "It's just a different place than the one yer familiar with, Kazuha. But it's as much my home as the one ya know."

"What did I say about bein' cryptic, Heiji?" Kazuha grumbled, shooting him a look. That was a trait of his from elementary school that she decidedly didn't miss- but now that he was being a little more honest with her about the fact that he was still just as odd now as he was back then, it had all but come back in full force. "We're still goin' the wrong way if we're headin' ta yer grandma's place."

"We're not goin' there either." Heiji told her simply, briefly glancing down at her, a hint of a smile on his face. "Don't worry, it's not far at all. It's my parent's place."

"I'm not sure how ya managed it, but somehow phrasin' it less cryptically only managed ta make _less_ sense." Kazuha told him bluntly. For a brief moment, she entertained the notion that perhaps now was _her_ time to be spirited away- she'd heard that rumor a lot too when they were kids, whenever the neighborhood housewives saw them hanging out together. Once, when they thought she wasn't listening, she had caught them telling her mother as much, claiming that they were worried that the odd Hattori boy was one day going to do something to her.

Her mother had given them a tongue lashing so harsh, that Kazuha wished she still could remember the words that she had said on that day. All that was left behind was the vague feeling of awe hearing it had given her.

"My folks aren't my real folks. I'm adopted, Kazuha." Heiji told her frankly, catching the look of shock that crossed her face, his smile only growing. "I've known that fer a long time now, but I'm guessin' ya didn't suspect as much."

"No, I didn't." Kazuha admitted after a moment, shaking her head. "When did ya find out?"

"A little before sixth grade." Heiji told her, making sure that his grip on her hand was tight. He didn't want her to lose her way, not on the paths that they were going to be taking. He had made sure that Conan didn't lose his way either the other day, when he'd brought him to the very same place. If they were to get lost on such a path, they might never find their way out- trapped in the labyrinth of streets that half-existed and half didn't, an ephemeral series of pathways that weren't for normal folk to navigate. Perhaps Kazuha would eventually be able to make her way out, but Conan? Doubtful. "I was lookin' through the photo albums an' realized that somethin' didn't add up. My mom didn't look pregnant in the least bit, even in photos from just a week or so before I was supposedly born. I realized there was no way I could actually be her child."

"Have you ever talked to them about it?" Kazuha asked, peering up at him. Of all the lousy times for him to realize something like that- it had to be back then, on the heels of the overwhelming guilt that he carried from what he could only view as his greatest failure. She knew that even now, that time haunted him, but that had never been a mystery to her. "I'm sure they love ya just as much, all the same, Heiji."

"I know that much, of course." Heiji told her, giving her a quick grin. "But I've never talked with them about it. There's no need ta, ya know? Even if we're not blood related, I'm still their son. It's not really important ta discuss between us in the first place."

"I see." Unable to help it, Kazuha found a fond smile crossing her face. "I'm guessin' that's not really what ya wanted ta tell me though, right, Heiji?" She asked, turning her gaze to glance around her. That was strange- she was certain she was quite familiar with Osaka and it's streets, but she was almost certain that she had never seen this pathway before. Where exactly were they headed?

"Nope." Heiji said simply, pulling her closer to him, silently warning her not to let go of his hand. He felt her own grip on it tighten as he did so. "It's a pretty big thing that I've got ta tell ya, an' it might affect how ya view me, but I think it's somethin' that ya deserve ta know. After all, ya stood by my side all this time, Kazuha- I owe ya that much."

"Idiot, there's nothin' that's gonna make me change the way I think of ya, Heiji." Kazuha said shortly, casting him a sharp look. As city streets faded away into forest, she couldn't help but feel her gaze stray away again, wondering exactly when they had left the city behind- it felt as if it hadn't been all that long since they had started walking, and yet all she could make out of it were the distant lights twinkling far back beyond them.

Closer to them, but still just out of her reach, there were faint lights within the trees themselves, that bobbed and weaved among them, as if they had a life of their own. Although the forest was dark even with the lights, somehow it didn't give off a foreboding feeling- if anything, the feeling was almost joyous, as if it were welcoming her here, happier than anything that she had found her way here. She felt strangely safe here, in this strange place, as if there was nothing within this forest that could possibly seek to harm her.

But still, Heiji's hand was wrapped tight around her own, though he no longer was looking in her direction, instead looking straight ahead. He had grown unusually silent, though she could still make out a faint hint of a smile. Dimly, she became aware that they had begun to ascend steps, ones that seemed to be created from the very earth itself, lined by what appeared to be an almost endless sea of torii gates, massive arches whose red paint was faded with time rising above them as they walked.

Kazuha opened her mouth, half wanting to say something, to break the strange silence that had fallen between them- but she quickly shut it, realizing that she had nothing to say. It wasn't quite an uncomfortable silence, but it was a feeling that she wasn't used to. Heiji was always the rather chatty sort, at least around her she was, and when he went silent like this, it had always been either because he was too angry to even speak, or when he had been far distant from her. Neither of those things were true now, she thought, as she could still feel the warmth of his hand, could still feel that presence that she knew was his own.

Before she knew it, they had ascended to the top step, her heel clicking on stone. Only then did Heiji's hand slip from her grasp, and she had to glance over, just to make sure he hadn't vanished from her sight. She let out a slight breath when she realized he was still very much there, though there was a strange, almost unreadable expression on his face, the likes of which she hadn't seen before.

"Is this the place?" Kazuha slowly spoke up, daring to pull her gaze away from Heiji, casting it before her. The bright moon that hung above them illuminated the darkness, casting itself over a vast expanse of ruins, of what must have been a traditional Japanese manor at some point, in the long distant past. As she took a slight step forward, she could feel curious eyes on her, half whispered voices just faintly dancing out of her line of hearing, a tint of joy to the unheard words.

"There's nothin' here, Heiji." Kazuha said, glancing back at him, a slight frown crossing her features. "Did it burn down or somethin'?"

"No. It's still here." Heiji told her, his unfamiliar expression slowly shifting into something more familiar, that easy grin of hers that she knew so well- and the one that he wore whenever he was about to get into a bit of mischief. "Can't ya see it, Kazuha?" He asked, taking a step forward, and then another, so he stood a step beyond her.

"All I see is a bunch of rubble, Heiji." Kazuha almost huffed, placing her hands on her hips, casting him a rather suspicious look. "Surely ya didn't bring me out all this way just ta play a trick on me?"

"No tricks." Heiji told her, a broad grin appearing on his face. "Well, alright. Just _this_ one."

Before she could question what he meant, the sound of a pair of clapping hands filled the air- once, twice. It took Kazuha a moment for her to realize that the sound had come from Heiji, golden sparks dancing from his hands, as it seemed to ripple through the area, much louder than it should be, cutting straight through the faint, half-whispered voices. For a moment, it was almost as if she could see the sound rippling through the air, stirring up the very dust around them- and as her breath caught in her throat, for a moment all but finding herself at a loss for words, she realized that this was exactly what was happening here.

It was as if time itself turned back, though the moon hanging in the sky did not change, nor the position of the stars. As she watched in rapt attention, the long decaying ruins once again began to take life, vivid colors springing up against the night sky as what once was no more than a pile of rubble became as it was when it had been standing, solid as a rock, a sprawling Japanese mansion the likes of which that made the Hattori household look small. The dried ponds in the outer courtyard filled out, and she could faintly hear the sound of splashing from within them, carp dancing around as if they had always been there. Some of them, not content with swimming in the pond, swum through the very earth itself, splashing out from the dirt as easily as if it were water, glistening with all the colors of the heavens.

As the last piece fell into place, restoring the manor to it's former glory, Kazuha could only stare, half unable to believe what she had just witnessed unfold before her very eyes. Certainly, she was always the type to believe in the supernatural, but even so, something like this was almost beyond the scale of her imagination. Especially not when it's source was someone who had spent the past several years adamantly _denying_ the existence of anything even remotely supernatural, stubborn as they come about it.

"That," Kazuha finally spoke up, taking a step forward, noticing that the stone that lined the pathway underneath her feet was no longer cracked and broken, but whole and intact. "...was one _hell_ of a trick, Heiji."

In spite of himself, Heiji let out a bark of laughter, a wide grin crossing his face. That was pretty much the reaction that he had expected from her- and frankly, he couldn't wait until he had a chance to show Kudo very much the same thing. He would definitely have to expose him to a bit more real magic before showing him something like this- otherwise he was vaguely worried that his brain might _actually_ break.

"That's one way of puttin' it." Heiji told her, offering her his hand. In the distance, she could vaguely make out the sound of voices, now much louder than they had been before. She could almost make out what they were saying now- and they all seemed to be quite excited. As one voice loudly barked out over the others, audible even to her, she watched as a disgruntled look crossed Heiji's face, offset by a faint tint of red to his cheeks.

_"The young master's brought a girl home!"_

"Are there other people here, Heiji?" Kazuha blinked, feeling her cheeks tint a shade of pink herself, daring to cast a glance over towards him. She took his offered hand, feeling his fingers carefully wrap around hers again. "Ah, ya did say this was yer blood parent's place, come ta think of it. Um... are they here?"

"Nah. They died a long time ago." Heiji told her, shrugging his shoulders, almost indifferent. "Never actually met them myself. An' ta answer yer question, there's... people here, though they also aren't quite _people_. Well, I guess you'll understand a little better when we actually get inside."

"What did I _just_ say about bein' cryptic, Heiji?" Kazuha asked, though she nevertheless allowed him to guide her up towards the massive front doors, that stood almost twice as tall as either of them. Pressing a hand to one, they almost seemed to spring open at Heiji's touch, unfolding to reveal the interior courtyard of the manor inside.

It was bustling with life inside- or at least, that was what she would like to say, if it weren't for the fact that she was pretty certain that she and Heiji were the only _living_ things here. Children, ephemeral and transparent, darted to and fro amongst the courtyard, only pausing from their games, turning faces hidden by simple paper masks, characters spelling out their names painted on them, as they noticed the pair. Adult figures, clothed all in black robes, even their faces concealed by white, ceramic masks, stalked around the edges, far more attentive than the children. All at once, they lined up, almost gliding as they moved, unhindered by clumsy things such as feet, flanking each side of the pathway leading towards the door to the actual manor proper.

"Oh god, they're gonna do it." She faintly heard Heiji grumble, placing his free hand over his face, dragging it downwards. "I even told 'em not ta."

"Welcome back, young master!"

" _Ugh_." Crinkling his nose in annoyance, Heiji's brows furrowed together, dropping his hand away from his face. Taking a step forward, half forgetting that his hand was still entwined with Kazuha, she quickly found herself having to fall into step beside him, least she risk being unceremoniously dragged behind him. "I told ya guys not ta do somethin' like this! An' which one of ya was the one who shouted? I told all of ya I was bringin' Kazuha over ta begin with, an' not ta make a huge deal of it, an' yet here ya are, doin' just that!"

"Yer supposed ta be shikigami in the first place, so why are ya'll so bad at actually _listenin_ ' ta me?"

_Come again?_ Kazuha wasn't half certain that she had heard him right.

"Well it's your _own_ fault, frankly speaking, young master." One of them spoke up from underneath their mask, floating a bit closer towards the pair. "You gave us a little bit too much free will when you made us. So _of course_ when you tell us that you're finally bringing your childhood friend here to see the boundary house, we're all going to be quite excited."

Only able to make another disgruntled noise because he realized they were totally right, Heiji grimaced a little, before heaving a long sigh. "Honestly. I haven't actually told Kazuha anythin' yet, so I was hopin' ya wouldn't make such a fuss." As if only now remembering the girl in question now that he had spoken her name, Heiji glanced over towards her with a start, a sheepish look on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, an awkward laugh escaping him. "Um, sorry about that Kazuha! They all have a tendency ta get sort of carried away with this kinda thing!"

"Ah, no, it's alright!" Kazuha was quick say, shaking her head. At the flustered expression on Heiji's face, she couldn't help but feel some of her unease and confusion melt away, and instead found herself laughing into her hand. "But it really seems like ya, Heiji, ta have created shikigami that don't even properly listen to ya in the first place!"

Granted, that was a sentence that she never expected to say- but here she was saying it, so she might as well accept what she was witnessing in front of her, and move on. Heiji had warned her that the truth she was about to get out of him was going to be beyond what she could have expected- and she did have to admit that he was also right that about the fact that her view of him would shift as a result of it.

But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, really.

"What's that supposed ta mean?" Heiji glowered at her, shooting her a rather dirty look. "It can't be helped! I was still a kid when I made them. I didn't even know half of what I was doin' at the time!"

"You made most of us in late middle school, young master. You said it was too quiet around here." One of the shikigami unhelpfully chimed in. "You knew full well what you were doing at the time."

With a slight twitch of his brow, Heiji mumbled something about his breath about casting the lot of them back to where they came from. The way that Kazuha snorted into her hand did not help matters much, and he let go of her hand, shoving both of his own into his pockets, grumbling inaudibly a little more. " _Anyways_!" He finally barked out, glancing over at Kazuha, silently telling her to stop her giggling already. "Let's go inside already."

"Shall we bring some coffee and desert, young master?" One of the shikigami piped up, peering out from behind the shadow of another one.

"Oh yeah, good idea." Heiji noted, nodding his head, his mood all but lifting at the mere suggestion. "Come on Kazuha, don't just stand there like a stump! I told ya I'd tell ya everythin', so let's get ta the talkin' part already."

"Geez, I'm comin' Heiji, ya don't have ta be so grumpy." Kazuha puffed out her cheeks slightly, falling into step behind him. Ever so vaguely, she could make out the sound of the child spirits that lingered in the yard whispering underneath their breath, contemplating whether or not the pretty girl that 'Heiji-niichan' had brought home was his girlfriend. And from the faint pink tint on Heiji's cheeks, she knew that he could hear them just as well.

Following Heiji out of the inner courtyard and into the manor proper, Kazuha found herself glancing around, amazed that this place had been nothing but ruins only minutes ago. The hallway seemed to sprawl out into forever, and she hurried to keep step with him, half worried that she would get lost if she lost sight of him. When he stopped abruptly in front of a room, sliding the door open, Kazuha nearly stumbled into him, barely catching herself and avoiding such an embarrassing fate.

"Take a seat, Kazuha." Heiji told her, doing so himself, sitting cross legged at the low table placed in the center of the room. Glancing around the room, she couldn't help but reflect that although the decor in the hallway was quite traditional- hanging scrolls and large pots, the decor in this room, at the very least, was far more like Heiji- the walls of the room were lined with motorcycle and baseball posters, the entire room itself arranged to be a bedroom. "Let's talk."

"Is this also yer room, Heiji?" Kazuha observed, as she carefully took a seat across from him. "Do ya live here sometimes too? Ah, don't tell me that this place is-?"

Kazuha didn't even have to finish her question, as Heiji gave her a rather knowing nod, grinning at her. "Yer right on all counts, Kazuha. This is the place that I disappeared ta around sixth grade. So if ya were worryin' all this time if I was abducted or somethin', let me put those concerns ta rest, finally."

"So ya really _did_ remember what happened back then." Kazuha noted, a slight frown crossing her features. She had thought that the change in Heiji's behavior from 'weird kid' to someone who was obviously trying to act as normally as they possibly could, had begun right when Heiji had returned home. He had been discovered sleeping on a park bench in Kyoto, and claimed that he had no memories of where he had been for the past half year when he'd been questioned. Since it appeared that he had been well cared for in the time that he was missing, nobody ended up pressing him with too many questions, and the incident ended as mysteriously as it had began.

There had been rumors swirling around about it, of course- whispers that perhaps he'd been replaced by a doppelganger or something like that. Kazuha knew at once those were false- even if his behavior had changed, there was no fooling her eyes. She was certain that the boy who had come back was the same as the one who had left. Although she had questions of her own, eventually she too, had come to accept the fact that Heiji had seemed to change his tune suddenly in regards to all things supernatural- perhaps he had lost his gift for seeing them.

Though he'd always viewed it as a curse, at least at the time. Now, she felt as if that view he'd clung to so fiercely as a child had changed, having fully come to terms with whatever it was that made him so different from everyone else that she knew. She only wished that she had noticed that he was putting on an act sooner- because knowing Heiji as she did, she was certain that there was some part of him that always wished for someone that he could share the truth with- the whole truth.

"Yeah. Sorry about that, Kazuha." Heiji said after a moment, rubbing the back of his head. "What I told ya earlier was true- after everythin' I went through back then, I just kinda got sick of livin' the way I was. I wanted ta know what it was like ta have people take ya seriously fer once- maybe if I didn't already have the reputation that I did, I might have been able ta do somethin' about that accident in the first place."

"Heiji..." Kazuha began, trailing off a little. She was grateful enough that her own life had been saved on that day, but she knew that wasn't anywhere good enough for him.

"Well, that's in the past now." Heiji told her, white teeth flashing in a broad grin as he quickly shelved the subject almost as quickly as it had been brought up. "What matters is what's in the present. Listen, Kazuha, I'm not actually..."

"Young master, here's your coffee and cheesecake!" The door to the room slid open, as one of the shikigami floated into the room, stark white hands placing a tray down at the table, glancing between the pair. "Did we perhaps interrupt something?"

"Yes." Heiji glowered at them. "Now get outta here. An' tell the eavesdroppers ta move on already!" He added, shooting a look towards the door. Kazuha could make out the faint sound of a hidden crowed quickly moving away from the door, and unable to help herself, she chuckled a little, carefully picking a plate of cheesecake from the tray, and helping herself to a bite.

"Honestly, ya can't get any privacy in this place sometimes." Heiji grumbled to himself, watching as the shikigami floated back out the door, shutting it behind them. Heaving a long sigh, he placed his chin in his hand. "An' right when I was about ta tell ya the important part too."

"It's alright, Heiji." Kazuha gave him a small smile. "This is really good cheesecake, though! Don't tell me yer shikigami know how ta cook, even though yer useless in the kitchen?"

"Shut up." Heiji grumbled again, shooting her a long look. "There are just some things that people aren't gonna be good at no matter how long they live! Look at ya, just blissfully eatin' cheesecake. I thought ya were the type who was afraid of this sort of thing, Kazuha."

Which was by and large, his own fault, really.

"But this place doesn't feel scary at all!" Kazuha told him frankly, swallowing another bite of cheesecake, giving him a bright smile. "If anythin', right from the start, I felt really welcome here! Sure, I was a little surprised," Alright, that might be something of an understatement, "...but I never once felt scared."

At the slightly fond look that crossed Heiji's face, Kazuha couldn't help but feel her cheeks heat up, wondering if perhaps there was a reason for that. Finishing off her cheesecake and dabbing her mouth with her napkin, she turned towards him, placing her hands in her lap, giving him a rather expectant look. "Now then, what were ya gonna say, Heiji? Don't tell me that you were gonna say somethin' like yer not human or somethin' like that?"

At the expression that crossed his face, one of his hands reaching up to scratch a cheek, Kazuha briefly found the gears in her head screeching to a halt. As Heiji's gaze flickered away from her a little, he let out a slightly sheepish laugh. "Well, that's pretty much it. I'm somethin' pretty similar ta a human, but..."

"For real?" Kazuha asked.

"Yeah. For real." Heiji told her, sparing a glance back towards her. "I've got a human body, but that's pretty much as far as that sort of thing goes. It's not like some kinda weird possession thing or anythin' though, I've been this way since I was born." He was quick to add, briefly recalling some of the rumors that had whirled around him back when he was still a child. There had been a time when he had half believed them, and more than anything, he was grateful that they hadn't turned out to be true.

"That explains a few things, probably." Kazuha slowly, allowing a moment for this bit of information to sink into her. She had only been joking really, she hadn't expected to be actually _correct_. "So if yer not human Heiji, then what are ya? Some kinda youkai or somethin'?"

"That's not quite it either." Heiji told her, a small smile slowly crossing his face, seeming to let out a slight breath of relief that she was still talking to him normally. That was the worst part, really, the one that he had been dreading- but even though it had taken her a moment, Kazuha all but seemed to be accepting it. "It's a bit of a long story."

Heaving a long sigh, suddenly wishing that he had rehearsed this explanation a little more, Heiji rubbed the back of his head. He was trying to pull on some of his speaking ability from whenever he revealed one of his deductions, but apparently, that wasn't working out too much for him right now. Maybe it would be easier with Kudo- though he was still sort of debating revealing the 'not human' part to him, to be honest.

"I've got time. I left a note." Kazuha told him, casting a smile of her own towards him. Granted, she was a little surprised by this revelation- but it wasn't as if it really changed anything. Heiji was still Heiji, and that was all that really mattered.

Considering her words for a moment, Heiji folded his arms in front of his chest, wondering where exactly to start. With a slight sigh, he lifted one finger, golden sparks crackling in the air as he used it to draw in the air, glittering golden lines forming where his finger passed. It wasn't just the intrinsically magical nature of such a thing that found Kazuha paying rapt attention to him- she too, was curious about the truth. Whatever it was, she would take it all in, and accept it.

"So ya got yer human world an' yer spirit world." Heiji explained, scribbling representations of such in the air, before drawing a line down the center between them. "An' separatin' those two worlds, ya got yer boundary. Sometimes things'll go over from one side ta another, but that in itself isn't so much the problem. Just cause somethin' crosses the line, doesn't mean they're crossin' it ta do anythin' bad, ya see. But sometimes it _does_. An' that is a problem."

"Which world are we in right now, incidentally?" Kazuha asked, peering over towards Heiji.

"We're right smack on the boundary line, so both." Heiji told her. "There are some places in this world just naturally like that. Weird stuff tends ta gather around such places. That's why this place was built here in the first place, ta make travelin' between the two worlds easier fer those that would live here. Anyways, like I said, it's a problem when somethin' bad crosses over from one world ta another, so in order ta deal with it, these fancy dudes," And with a swift motion of his wrist, he drew what Kazuha was pretty sure was supposed to be some kind of representation of the gods. "...decided that rather than deal with it themselves, they'd make some folk ta do it fer them."

"An' that's where I come in. Well, I mean, not yet. That was like, hundreds of thousands of years ago." Heiji noted. "But that's what I am at any rate. I'm a Guardian. Meant ta watch over the boundary line an' make sure that everythin' between the two worlds is in order, so ya know, the balance of reality doesn't collapse or somethin'. Been told that's bad."

To illustrate, he doodled a bunch of flames and skulls all across the image of the two worlds, causing Kazuha to snort into her hand, and causing his own grin to grow. With a swift wave of his hand, the entire image vanished, and Heiji quickly went on to doodle the house that they were in at the moment, as well as a few stick figures to go along with it. "So anyways, in order ta deal with that, the gods took a bunch of their magic, an' gave these balls of magic human form, an' set them out to watch over the two worlds an' make sure nobody gets into doin' anythin' they shouldn't."

"The gods could have done it themselves, but the gods are _lazy_ an' generally don't give too much of a shit." Heiji noted, a slight glower crossing his features as he spoke. "An' that went well fer a good long time, before several hundreds of generations later, turns out if ya give people too much power, it'll corrupt them eventually. So in order ta stop the insidious plans of my oh so _charmin_ ' family line, because _boy_ did they ever have some insidious plans at this point, humans and spirits alike banded together to overthrow them."

Drawing a big red X over his previous drawing, the stick figures all began falling to the ground one by one, until with a swipe of his hand, the entire image faded away again, returning to nothing. "Together they wiped them all out. Or well, so they thought." Heiji said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Turns out they missed one."

"An' that's you?" Kazuha asked, taking a moment to digest the information that she had been given. It was a lot to take in at once, even if she had always been the kind to believe in the existence of the supernatural. By both his own admission and his own demonstration, she was pretty confident that her childhood friend could in fact, use magic. And from the sound of it, he was more or less _literally made of the stuff_ \- which was, admittedly, a little _more_ than she had been expecting.

Somehow he always managed to surprise her like this.

"Pretty much." Heiji told her, flashing her a wide grin. "Well, all of this is stuff that I learned secondhand myself. I was only a baby at the time everythin' happened. When I was in sixth grade an' was down real low, this place called out ta me, an' I made my way back here. That's where I learned everythin' fer myself, finally, though it was a bit hard ta accept as first, as much sense as it made after awhile. Ya remember when I used ta do that weird poltergeist stuff?"

"God, how could I forget?" Kazuha noted, almost rolling her eyes.

"Apparently that's the result of buildin' up too much magic. Like I said before, my body's pretty much human, an' there's only so much that a human body can take. I absorb the stuff naturally from around me even when I'm not tryin', so if I build up too much..." Heiji trailed off, mimicking the sound of an explosion. "...it all has ta go somewhere. Usually out, all at once."

"An' on the other hand, when I use up too much at once, I feel exhausted an' unable ta do much of anythin'." Heiji told her, finally reaching out to take his own cheesecake, taking a bite out of it now that a large part of the story was out of the way. Kazuha looked as if she was taking a bit of time to digest it all- but she seemed to be doing just that, for which Heiji was grateful. He'd skimped over a few details here and there- no need to let Kazuha know that those he actually shared blood ties with had basically been plotting to seize both worlds for their own, so that they could rule over them with an iron fist, having long since been corrupted from their original duty into one of feeling that they should command it all.

Which was a big reason as to why he had made a vow in the first place to never use his own magic to meddle in human affairs- at least not overmuch. There were those in the spirit world who whispered what he was with disdain and fear, no shortage of those who expected that the last of their kind would very much turn out to be like all of the others. Perhaps all of this too, was part of what also fueled him to become a detective as well- it wasn't in his nature to sit by and do nothing while harm was being done, be it spirit on spirit, spirit on human, or human on human.

He had also left out the part where he had been sleeping in stasis in this place for hundreds of years, until the right person was found to raise him in the first place. It was always _probably_ best not to mention the fact that, technically speaking, you were nearly a thousand years old already, especially when he knew that Kazuha would never let him hear the end of it- in the form of horrible old man jokes. Not that he had any awareness of the time that he had spent sleeping here- because again, he _had_ been a baby at the time.

"So? That's pretty much everythin' there is ta tell, Kazuha." Heiji told her, taking another bite of his cheesecake, casting assessing eyes towards her. "Ya surprised?"

"To be honest, a little." Kazuha confessed after a moment, burying her somewhat sheepish look in her cup of coffee. "I thought a lot about what it could be that you were keepin' from me, or what it could be that ya learned about yourself, but this, all this..." As she spoke, she cast a glance around her, gesturing with one hand towards their surroundings. "...is a little bit more than I could have ever expected. It's going ta take a little while to take it all."

"Take yer time." Heiji told her, his expression turning somewhat soft. "It even took me awhile ta come ta terms with, so I wouldn't expect ya ta understand it all in one night."

"Do you do that sort of thing, Heiji?" Kazuha asked, glancing over at him from over her cup of coffee, carefully studying her childhood friend, as if looking for some kind of visual tell now that she knew the truth, a hint that he wasn't quite human. She could find none- and of course she wouldn't, she thought, mentally shaming herself for doing so in the first place. Heiji had told her as much. "Ya know, look after the boundary line."

"Pretty much." Heiji told her. "Ever since middle school, at least. It's my duty, an' one long overdue."

"That sounds... dangerous." Kazuha said after a moment, setting down her coffee cup, her expression turning to one of worry. "All by yerself?"

"Fer the most part." Heiji said, giving her a quick grin. "What, don't worry about me, Kazuha! I'm a lot tougher than I look, ya know, an' I already look pretty tough ta start with! I'm not goin' ta go out there an' get myself killed, if that's what yer thinkin'. Ya've got more ta worry about in concerns ta my detective work than ya do with my duty."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Kazuha said, crinkling her nose. Heaving a long sigh, she stood up, carefully walking around the table and taking a seat next to Heiji, not quite noticing the red tint his cheeks took on as she did so. Reaching out, she placed a hand over his own, one of her fingers lightly trailing the scar that she had left behind on it on Mermaid Island. "It is a lot ta take in Heiji, but yer still my precious, precious childhood friend. That's not somethin' that's goin' ta change, even if ya tell me yer a giant bundle of magic with sentience."

Letting out a loud snort in spite of himself, Heiji cast a glance down at her. "That's not _quite_ right, but if that's what ya wanna think, go fer it, Kazuha." He told her, wrapping his fingers around her hand, enjoying the feeling of it locked with hers. "There is _one_ more thing I need ta tell ya, Kazuha."

"What?" Kazuha asked, glancing up at him, a bit startled as she found his eyes staring into hers, a softer expression on his face than she ever remembered seeing on it before. It was almost tender, really, those needlessly beautiful blue eyes of his staring into hers, all but shrinking down the world to just the two of them. "Is it somethin' important, Heiji?"

"Ya could say that." Heiji told her, giving her a slight smile. "Actually, Kazuha, the truth is that I-"

"Young master, would you like some refills on your coffee?" Throwing open the sliding door with impeccable timing, one of the shikigami servants floated in. As they watched Heiji's face nearly smack into the table, before he rose to his feet, shooting them a glower, the shikigami floated nervously backwards a bit, sensing that they had interrupted something. Especially as he scooped them up, and all but tossed them out of the room, sliding the door shut behind them with a loud slam.

Mumbling to himself underneath his breath, still not quite turning back around to face Kazuha, Heiji felt his cheeks turn a burning shade of red. Honestly, not even in his own home could he find a bit of privacy to spit out his feelings for Kazuha. If it wasn't one thing, it was another.

"Heiji?" Kazuha spoke up, startling him a little. "What was it that ya wanted ta tell me?"

"Ah, well..." Slowly turning back around to face her, scratching his cheek, Heiji heaved a long sigh. The moment had come and gone again- he'd have to try again another day. "Ya remember that time we both fell off that cliff? The truth is that I used magic ta get us both out of that situation."

"So that's what happened." Kazuha said, a look of understanding crossing her face. "I had always wondered how ya got us out of that mess, Heiji. I thought we were both goin' ta die for sure."

"I wouldn't let somethin' like that happen to ya, Kazuha." Heiji told her, giving her a quick grin. "What kind of guy do ya think I am?"

"A mystery loving, magical _idiot_." Kazuha told him frankly, a teasing expression on her face- and for a moment, Heiji was almost glad to see it- before he brushed such feelings away, glowering down at her.

"Takes one ta know one, ya _idiot_!" Heiji retorted.

Well, at the very least, a whole new world of possibilities had just opened up when it came to confessing to Kazuha. And with the entirety of the spirit world at his disposal, like _hell_ was he going to lose out to Kudo's confession in front of some dumb old giant clock.


	13. In Which Kudo Shinichi is Not Prepared For Any of These Events

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life was so much simpler back when he didn't question anything about his rival- and as much as he wanted to go back to those days sometimes, he'd already vowed to accept whatever truth came his way. Even if it involved magical candies and fairy godmothers.

"Hattori. What the _hell_."

From the sound of his friend's voice on the other end of the phone, a rather cheeky grin crossed Heiji's face, knowing all at once that he had done just what he'd told him to yesterday. "Oh, so ya ate the candy, huh, Kudo? Well? Ya surprised? I hope ya remembered the part about not eatin' it until after Neechan and that Uncle weren't around!"

"Thankfully I did." Putting a hand to his forehead, feeling another headache coming on at this strange turn of events, Kudo Shinichi- because that's who he was right now, much to his befuddlement, let out a long, exasperated sound. Frankly he half felt as if he shouldn't have been all that surprised by this development- that the strange candy that the equally strange shopkeepers from the store in Osaka that Heiji had brought him to the other day would have somehow returned him to his true self.

Certainly, such a thing was possible- Ai had developed any number of temporary antidotes herself, ones that they both had occasions to use in the past. But usually they didn't _also_ cause their _clothes_ to grow alongside with him, and while he was grateful for this development, it only caused everything to make even _less_ sense.

"Well, I hope she didn't go too far, or otherwise yer not gonna be able ta take this chance ta even so much as talk ta her!" Heiji cheerfully replied to him over the phone, acting as if he knew that this was going to happen. And frankly, Shinichi didn't doubt it. Thinking back on it, from the very start, he had seemed fixated on the idea of getting him a candy from those strange shopkeepers, and had seemed pretty excited when he had managed to obtain one. "Anyway, I'm comin' over in just a second, so hang tight there fer just a moment, Kudo!"

"Come over? Are you already on the train?" Shinichi asked, straining his ears to listen for any such sounds on the other end of the line that might indicate this was the case. Even though the sounds of a train were something one could normally hear over the phone, that didn't seem to be the case. Perhaps he was already heading towards the agency?

"Nah, trains take too long." Heiji said simply. "Where are ya anyways right now, Kudo? That uncle's room? Or in the agency?"

"What difference does it make?" Shinichi asked, rubbing his forehead a little. He'd better get an explanation for this once Heiji came over, because there was no way that he was going to let him weasel his way out of giving him one- not this time, not when something like this had happened. Judging from what he had said earlier, it didn't sound as if this condition of his was permanent- and the first thing he would like to know was exactly how long he had before he turned back into Edogawa Conan again. "I'm in the apartment, not the agency right now."

"Okay, got it! I'll be there in just a second!" Heiji told him- and before Shinichi could ask him exactly where it was he was planning on coming from, he hung up. Glowering down at his phone, Shinichi hit the redial button, only to helpfully be informed by an automated voice that the number he was trying to call at the moment was out of the service area. "Geez, that Hattori. He'd better have a good explanation for all of this or I'm going to-"

"Goin' ta what?" Heiji asked, nearly making Shinichi jump out of his skin, his heart hammering in his chest. "Geez, what's with that reaction? I even told ya I'd be over right away this time! Yer always complainin' that I don't give ya enough warnin', an' the first time that I do in awhile, ya still act like ya've seen a ghost!"

"Where did you even come from, Hattori?" Shinichi asked, his eyes darting around the room- the door to the room he shared with Kogoro was still closed and locked- the only door in the room that was open was the bathroom door, which come to think of it, had been closed earlier. Glancing just past Heiji, he narrowed his eyes, unable to help but notice that there seemed to be part of a footprint on the bathroom vanity. "You didn't come from..."

"Yeah, I took a shortcut through yer bathroom mirror." Heiji told him as if this were the most sensible thing in the world, a broad grin gracing his features, as Shinichi's own look of bafflement grew. "Can ya blame me? It's been awhile since I got ta see ya at yer real height, so I wasn't goin' ta bother wastin' time with usin' the train! Besides, we've got a lot ta talk about ourselves today, don't we? Well, more importantly, we have ta see to it that ya can meet Neechan fer awhile like this, right? Don't ya have a _certain confession_ that ya need ta ask her about?"

"Pace yourself, Hattori." Shinichi found himself saying, placing his fingers on the bridge of his nose, only noticing now that he was still wearing Conan's glasses. Slowly taking them off and folding them up, he tucked them in the row of Kogoro's dresser that the man had leant him, covering them up with a few clothes in case anyone opened it. "It's too early in the morning for me to be getting a headache."

"Kudo, if travelin' through mirrors is enough ta give ya a headache, maybe ya _aren't_ ready fer the whole truth just yet." Heiji pointed out, quirking a brow. "Honestly. An' here I go through the trouble of gettin' ya a Cinderella candy in the first place, an' ya don't even have the sense ta use it until I tell ya to."

"I didn't know _what_ it was!" Shinichi protested. "I thought it was just normal grandma candy! I didn't know it'd turn me back into well, _myself_!" Heaving a long sigh, he let his shoulders slump a little, casting Heiji a long look. "What the hell is a Cinderella candy anyways? Don't tell me that the effect is going to wear off at midnight?"

"That's pretty much the gist of it, yeah." Heiji told him frankly, folding his arms in front of his chest. Telling Kudo everything might be a ways ahead on the agenda, but he had at least decided to stop pretending to be anything other than what he was for today, and let him ease into the truth that way. Although, given his friend's frantic reaction, he wondered if perhaps he had already done too much, too soon. "Those old ladies are fairy godmothers, ya know. They're pretty rare in Japan, but there's a few floatin' around here an' there."

"Fairy godmothers?" Shinichi asked, a blank look crossing his face, letting another exasperated sigh escape from him as Heiji's expression didn't even so much as shift, letting him in on the fact that this was all some kind of elaborate joke. "I guess that _would_ explain how my clothes grew with me, although considering that these are Conan's clothes still, I can't exactly go out in them, even if they _do_ fit."

"Ya've got somethin' of a point there." Heiji admitted after a moment, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, give me a second, an' I'll go back an' pick up a change of clothes fer ya. I'd offer ta raid yer own wardrobe, but I don't wanna take the chance of runnin' into that freeloader ya've got livin' at yer place."

"Please don't." Shinichi said, finding his hand once more straying up towards his forehead. The last thing he wanted was for Heiji and Subaru to meet each other in such an absurd fashion- even if he did have to admit, some small part of him actually wanted to see if it would be enough to cause the FBI agent to visibly react. "You're going through the mirror again, aren't you?"

"Yeah, it's the fastest way." Heiji said simply, nodding his head. "Well, I'll be back in a flash, Kudo!" With that said, he gave him a mock salute, before cheerfully climbing back through his bathroom mirror, disappearing within it before Shinichi's very eyes. It didn't even take him two minutes to return the way he came, a bundle of clothes tucked underneath one arm, whistling to himself as the bathroom mirror once again rippled, only settling back to being a normal one once Heiji had passed through.

"Here ya go." Heiji told him, tossing him the clothes, a quick grin on his face. "Well, they're my clothes, so they might be a bit big on ya here an' there, but put up with it, Kudo."

Surprised that his reflexes even still worked well enough for him to not just let the tossed clothes drop on the floor in front of him, Shinichi gratefully accepted them. Frankly, if he hadn't just witnessed that with his own two eyes, he still wouldn't have believed it- and even now, he was struggling to wrap his head around it. Granted, he had been suspecting that Hattori Heiji wasn't _quite_ like other people- but he was getting the feeling that he had _vastly underestimated_ by just _how much_.

"You're really not a normal person, are you, Hattori?" Shinichi found himself asking, examining the clothes that he had been given. As he pulled off his shirt, Heiji turned around on his heel, but not before he saw the edge of a grin on his friend's face.

"I thought we'd _already_ established that much, Kudo." Heiji told him, folding his arms in front of his chest, shifting on his feet impatiently as he waited for his friend to finish changing. "This really shouldn't be news ta ya at this point." Peeking a glance behind him, his grin only grew as he saw that Shinichi had finished changing his clothes, and turned around on his heel again. "Now then, what are we waitin' fer? I've got a pretty busy day ahead of me, so let's knock talkin' ta Neechan out of the way!"

"For someone who hasn't even confessed to Kazuha-chan yet, you sure are in a hurry to get me and Ran together." Shinichi couldn't help but observe, watching as a slight twitch crossed Heiji's face- and finally, he was back into territory that he thoroughly understood. "Judging from the look on your face, I'm going to take it that you made another attempt at confessing to her, huh?"

"Who even cares about somethin' like that!?" Heiji huffed, shooting Shinichi a glower. "The timin' just wasn't right, that's all! An' after I managed ta tell her all that other stuff too." Heaving a long sigh, a briefly disheartened look crossed his face, one that almost made Shinichi feel a little sympathetic for him. Whatever the truth behind Heiji was, it sure didn't seem to be doing him any favors in the love department.

"Other stuff?" Shinichi asked, a knowing look crossing his face. "So you told Kazuha-chan everything, then?"

"Yeah." Heiji said, nodding his head, a teasing grin on his face. "What, ya jealous that yer not the first one? Sorry, Kudo, but childhood friend ranks above a dude I just met this year, even if he _is_ my rival."

"Well, I can't really argue with that." Shinichi told him. "We'd probably better hurry up and leave though. It makes me nervous hanging around here looking like this- it's almost begging for trouble."

"Ah, ya've got a point there." Heiji said, following Shinichi as he made his way out of the apartment. There was a slight hold up as he realized that he no longer had any shoes that fit him- causing Heiji to let out another long sigh, briefly departing and returning with a spare pair of shoes, which he set down on the floor in front of her. Watching as Shinichi tugged them on, he couldn't help but grin a little.

Well, one way or another, it seemed like everything was going to work out.  
___________________________________________________________________

"Oh, Neechan, I'm glad that I managed ta run into ya so soon! I brought ya a present!" If Shinichi didn't know any better, Heiji had all but made a beeline for where Ran had gone- leaving him not _nearly_ enough time to emotionally prepare for seeing Ran again when he was in his own body. Although for a moment, she seemed to be thrown off guard by Heiji's rather chipper- and rather sudden- greeting, it was once he stepped aside, a wide grin on his face as he showed who exactly was lurking behind him, that she understood the meaning of his words.

"Shinichi!" Ran found herself all but gasping, her eyes going wide at the sight of a face that she hadn't seen in awhile. "What are you doing here!?"

Shooting Heiji a slight look at being referred to as a 'present', Shinichi quickly turned back towards Ran, a slight smile on his face. "I got a slight break in the case I'm working on, so I came back to pay you a visit, Ran." It really was good to see her again as _himself_ , even if the circumstances that lead up to this moment still seemed _absurd_ to him. Fairy godmothers? Magical candies? The logical part of his brain wanted to deem it all as absurd, ridiculous, some kind of fever dream.

Vaguely, he almost wished he could go back to the time when he only viewed Heiji as his slightly odd friend and rival, back before he had started to ask all these questions about him. Maybe he would have been better off not knowing the truth about his friend- a truth which he didn't even yet know, but could only imagine was going to be more than enough to shake his rather soundly held beliefs to their core. Then again, while that might be better for him- would such a thing really be better for _Heiji_?

Well whatever the truth was, he supposed his friend was right- the most important truth of all was the fact that he was Hattori Heiji, high school detective of the west, and his best friend and rival. That wouldn't change, no matter what it was that he had to tell him- and he was going to ensure that the part about telling him didn't manage to slip his Osakan friend's mind. He wasn't going to get off easy after today- one way or another, he was going to come out of this with answers.

"Really?" Ran couldn't help but smile. "For how long?"

"I'm afraid it's only for today." Shinichi said, giving her an apologetic look. "And I do already have some plans today with Hattori, so..."

"What, don't worry about me!" Still beaming from ear to ear, Heiji watched the pair with a rather amused look in his eyes. As much as it bothered him that Shinichi had managed to confess to his childhood friend first, it wasn't like he could exactly hold it against him- hell, he didn't even _realize_ that he was in love with Kazuha until a short while ago. "I've got some other things I need ta take care of while I'm in Tokyo, anyways, so you two lovebirds have fun with each other!"

 _Love-_? Forcing back a flustered expression, not wanting to give Heiji the satisfaction, Shinichi shot him a look. "You're not trying to flake on me by any chance, Hattori? You've still got _plenty_ of things you need to tell me."

"Don't worry, don't worry." Heiji was quick to reassure him, before turning to look towards Ran. "Well, Neechan, I'll leave the two of ya alone fer awhile! Kudo, I'll be in that cafe where ya first took notice of that pest around noon, so why don't ya meet up there once yer done dealin' with Neechan here?"

"You'd better be there, Hattori." Shinichi warned him, narrowing his eyes.

"I will, I will!" Still beaming from ear to ear, Heiji gave them a wave of his hand, before turning around on his heel- pausing only once to look back towards them. "Kazuha told me ta tell ya hi, by the way, Neechan!" With that message delivered, Heiji excused himself in a manner most unsubtle- leaving Shinichi to let out a long sigh in exasperation.

"I barely even got to greet Hattori-kun." Ran couldn't help but blink, unable to mentally compare Heiji's entrance and exit to that of a passing storm. It felt as if he had been here one instant, and was gone in the next- although he had brought something very good with him in the process. Granted, she had several questions as to what the two of them were doing together, and she made a mental note to inquire of Heiji if he knew where Shinichi was the whole time. "But I'm really glad to see you again, Shinichi! It feels like it's been forever since..."

Ah, that's right. Thankfully, her cheeks weren't the _only_ ones turning a bright shade of red as thoughts of London drifted into her mind. Come to think of it, they had never properly spoken about that confession on the bridge ever since then, even though they had talked over the phone any number of times after that. Kazuha had even all but called her out on it, going so far as to gather her courage to confess to Heiji herself- an attempt which had failed, in the end.

"Y-yeah. Sorry to always keep you waiting like this, Ran." Shinichi told her. "I'm sorry that I can't manage to stay any longer than a day, though. Ah, but that's right, I went by the detective agency this morning to see if you were there, and that Conan kid told me that he would be spending the night over at the Professor's tonight, and to pass the message along to you if I saw you."

"Really?" Ran asked, a slight frown gracing her features. "I'll keep that in mind then. But what were you doing here with Hattori-kun, Shinichi?" There was a deeper meaning to her question, one that he could sense full well- she wanted to know if the Osakan detective had known where he was this entire time. "Are you two perhaps working on this case together?"

"Something like that." Shinichi told her, quickly deciding to cover for his friend. As much trouble as Heiji had been putting him through lately, he _had_ given him this chance, so he wasn't about to repay him by directing Ran's suspicions towards him. "Or rather, I just call him sometimes to bump heads with. This is the first time I've seen him in awhile myself as well."

"Is that true?" Ran asked, a slightly skeptical note to her voice- but finally she heaved a sigh, deciding to drop the subject. There were so many things that she felt that she needed to say to him in person now that she actually had the chance, that she almost didn't know where to start. And to be perfectly honest, she wasn't quite certain that her heart was prepared to respond to his confession so suddenly.

She had kind of expected that he might give her some fair warning when he showed back up, allowing herself valuable time to prepare. But well, he had been brought here by none other than Heiji, so perhaps that was the natural course of things.

"T-then, have you had breakfast?" She asked after a moment, a faint tint of red to her cheeks. "We could get some coffee or something."

"I would love to, Ran." Shinichi told her, allowing a smile to grace his features. Well, Heiji could wait- between the two of them, Ran was definitely _way_ more important than his increasingly enigmatic friend. Besides, if he wasted this chance that had been given to him, however strangely, he would never forgive himself- he could only hope that Ai was preoccupied with something else today, so word couldn't reach her that _Kudo Shinichi_ had been spotted hanging around Ran that morning. He kind of got the feeling she wasn't going to accept the truth as the truth.

 _Huh_. With a slight frown, Shinichi couldn't help but furrow his brows- maybe _that_ was part of the reason that Heiji had issued the challenge in the first place. If he hadn't already slowly started to unravel Heiji's secrets in the first place, there was no way he would have accepted what he had been told by him so easily as the truth himself. Ai had been right- it really was something that he had to learn for himself.

"By the way, what kind of plans do you have with Hattori-kun after this?" Ran asked, peering over at him. "From the way he spoke, I guess Kazuha-chan's not around. Did he come here to work on a case himself? Are you sure it's okay not to help him, if that's the case?"

"Frankly, I don't actually know _what_ Hattori's in Tokyo today for." Shinichi said after a moment. Best not to tell Ran too many details about Heiji's various oddities, after all. "I don't think he's here for any detective business, at the very least, or he probably would have been more adamant about dragging me along with him."

Well, at the very least, he probably wasn't here for any kind of normal detective business. Given that he had brought up the cafe where he had first taken notice of Koizumi Akako- who was doubtlessly the witch that Heiji had mentioned yesterday- he was probably passing over that mirror shard from yesterday to her. Once again, he couldn't help but question exactly what kind of relationship Heiji had with her. He almost didn't seem to be able to stand her, and yet he had readily fulfilled a favor for her without seeming to question it too much.

"In that case, it's fine." Ran said, nodding her head. She couldn't help but wonder herself though- the new information that she had learned about him recently from Kazuha had all sorts of questions swirling about in her head. Maybe he was just here to ensure that the two of them got to meet in the first place- given what Kazuha had told her about Heiji when he was a child, she kind of got the feeling that he was more grateful for Shinichi's friendship than his rival was aware of. "But you sounded a bit mad at him, Shinichi."

"I'm not mad at him." Shinichi was quick to reassure her. Honestly, it was the first time they had seen each other since London, and for some reason, _Heiji_ was all they were talking about. Well, at the very least, it gave him a bit of time to sort out his thoughts- he hadn't expected to be meeting Ran like this today either. "That guy's just been keeping some things from me, and today he promised to tell me what they were- then he turns around and shoves me off towards you."

"Shoved you off?" Ran snapped, her gaze sharpening at his choice of words, pivoting sharply on her heel to look back towards him. "And here I thought that you wanted to see me, Shinichi!"

"I do, I do!" Shinichi stammered, taking a slight step back, almost feeling the anger radiate off of her. "I'm just a bit annoyed that it feels like he's trying to avoid spitting it out, that's all. I didn't mean anything by that, Ran, I promise."

With a long sigh, Ran planted her hands on her hips, giving him a long look. "Well, that's fine then. But what do you mean by him keeping things from you? Unless it's about that..." Trailing off a little, she paled a bit, realizing that she had just that out loud- and from the expression that crossed Shinichi's face, she knew that he had heard him.

"About what, Ran? Do you know something?" Shinichi asked, it now being his turn to lock eyes with her. Come to think of it, she had been with Kazuha all that time during their visit to Osaka- it was possible that she might have told Ran something back then.

"Ah, sorry, forget I said that!" Ran said quickly, shaking her head. "I promised Kazuha-chan I wouldn't tell a soul!" Besides, there was no way that she could tell Shinichi something like the fact that Heiji could see ghosts! What would she do if she accidentally managed to create a rift in their friendship? She didn't want that!

Although, it was possible that was what Heiji was going to discuss with Shinichi today- they must have really gotten close if that was the case, even though it felt like the two of them didn't see each other all that often. For Heiji's sake, she could only hope that it would go well. Even though she had seen no evidence of it herself, Ran saw no reason to doubt Kazuha's words- she wouldn't have told her something like that as a joke. Likewise, she didn't think that Heiji had been lying to her when he had told her as much when they were children- if there was something he had been lying about, it was his whole skeptic act that he'd been putting up ever since she had first met him.

It must have been hard. It was true that she thought things like ghosts were scary, but she kind of regretted the fact that the four of them hadn't met each other much earlier. Maybe he would have been able to grow up being confident in his own gifts, unusual as they were.

"Um, but Shinichi, there is a question I want to ask you." Ran began, almost seeming to hesitate a little. "W-what do you think about the existence of ghosts?"

 _Real subtle, Ran_. She couldn't help but think dryly to herself- but frankly, she didn't know any other way to broach the topic. Maybe if she eased Shinichi into the idea a little, it would go over better for Heiji later in the day. She'd grown fond of the Osakan detective in her own right, really.

So she really _had_ heard something from Kazuha, then. Briefly, Shinichi couldn't help but wonder if Heiji would be touched if he learned that Ran was preemptively working to defend him- it didn't take a whole lot of deductive ability to determine how she had ended up asking that question. Still, as much as he said he was prepared to accept the truth, whatever that was, he couldn't help but find his eye slightly twitching at the mention of ghosts- it couldn't possibly be that on top of everything else, on top of prophetic dreams, witches, and fairies, that _ghosts_ were real.

Still, that _would_ explain some things.

_"Ya don't know how lucky ya are sometimes, Kudo. **Normal** murder scenes are bad enough, but..."_

The way Heiji had trailed off mid-sentence, as if he caught himself saying more than he should. The things that he could apparently sense that he couldn't. If those things were ghosts, then that would make sense. Briefly, he internally grimaced, realizing exactly what that sort of thing would mean for someone who spent a fair deal of time acting as a detective- was Heiji always seeing specters that he couldn't see? That sounded... highly unpleasant, really.

Did he see the ghosts of his dead classmates? It was a question that he considered with a brief shiver, wondering what kind of expression such things would have on their faces. Being able to speak with ghosts might make solving a murder easier, but frankly, Shinichi didn't envy him if that was the truth.

"Well, as much as there's no proof of their existence, there's not really any solid proof to prove that they don't exist, I suppose." Shinichi said after a moment, hoping that he was covering for his moment of silence well. Sensing that he hadn't, he gave her a slight smile, reaching out to take her hand. "Did Kazuha-chan tell you something, Ran?"

"Yeah." Ran told him, entwining her fingers with his, feeling their warmth seep into them. "Be good to Hattori-kun, okay, Shinichi? I think he's been troubled about a lot of things all on his own all this time. I might not be good with that sort of stuff, but..."

"You don't need to tell me that sort of thing, Ran." Shinichi said simply, letting out a soft laugh. "Hattori's my best friend, even if he is a bit weird. But, more importantly..." Glancing down at her, his gaze fixed with hers. "Don't we have something much more important to discuss?"

In hindsight, he probably should have expected the sound of a scream.  
_____________________________________________________________________

"I'm amazed that ya still came ta meet up with me even though ya missed yer chance with Neechan like that!" Heiji blinked, leaning back in his chair a little as Shinichi filled him in on some of the details of that morning's less than fruitful outing with Ran. He had tried to wrap up the murder case quickly, but it wasn't fast enough- Ran herself ended up being called away. He'd promised to come see her again that night, but until then, anything that they needed to say between them had to be put on hold.

"Well, it can't be helped. Sonoko needed her." Shinichi grumbled a little, folding his arms in front of his chest. Well, knowing Sonoko, her emergency probably wasn't actually a real emergency at all. "We're going to see each other later anyways. Provided you don't decide to spirit me away somewhere."

It was a joke, and he was grateful that Heiji obviously took it as such, letting out a loud burst of laughter.

"So? Did you meet that Koizumi girl here?" Shinichi asked, carefully studying the table. There was a very recent ring imprint on it that suggested there had been another cup placed there not so long ago- she had probably just left. "What's your deal with her anyways? You act like you don't like her, but you still arrange to meet her like this, and do favors for her. She's the one who put that letter in the mailbox too, wasn't she?"

"That's right." Heiji noted, finishing off his own coffee, a look of distaste crossing his face. "Well, like I said before, our relationship is complicated. I was lookin' fer someone doin' somethin' they weren't supposed ta, an' wound up meeting that pain in the ass witch. Tried ta kill me at first sight, even." He muttered that last part underneath his breath, just loud enough for Shinichi to catch it, a look of surprise crossing his face. "She thought I was witch hunter or somethin' at first, but well..."

"When she learned what I really was, her tune changed to one of interest." Heiji grumbled, lightly taping his coffee cup, a faint glimmer of golden sparks trailing from his fingers as he did so. Even though Shinichi swore it had been empty just moments before, he picked it up again and took another long drink from it. "Somehow or another, we've been stuck with each other ever since then. Really, it's a pain!"

"I don't think you hate her though, Hattori." Shinichi couldn't help but observe, deciding to stick for the moment to familiar territory, and question everything else a bit later. "Someone like you wouldn't bother having anything to do with someone they actually hated."

"Don't get all Sherlock on me, idiot." Heiji almost huffed, brows furrowing as he begrudgingly admitted that he probably had something of a point. She was the first person that he could be himself around- and for someone who had struggled with identity issues for as long as he could remember before middle school, that was a big help.

"You challenged me to in the first place." Shinichi couldn't help but note, quirking a brow. "In retrospect, I should have stayed out of it. That damn fortune was right."

There was something about the way Heiji laughed in response to his words that Shinichi didn't quite like, wondering if he'd given him something of the wrong idea with them. "Well, it's too late ta go back now, Kudo. Ya've already come this far, an' it's way more dangerous ta stay teeterin' on the brink with only bits of knowledge than it is ta dive right in. There's lots more things in this world than ya know."

"And you're one of them, I take it." Shinichi dryly observed, watching as a hint of a smile quirked on his friend's face, quickly hidden by his coffee cup.

"That's right. I'm impressed someone like you managed ta come ta that conclusion, really." Heiji observed, finishing off his coffee- for a second time, Shinichi couldn't help but twitch at- and rose to his feet, tossing the cup into a nearby garbage can. "Come on then. There's somewhere I want ta take ya."

"The ruins again?" Shinichi asked, getting to his feet and finishing off his own coffee, before tossing the cup away.

"Nah, that's fer later tonight. Yer gonna need a place ta spend the night, right? Since ya can't go back ta that Neechan's place lookin' like that, an' ya sure as hell don't wanna explain how ya look like that ta that little Neechan." Heiji noted, tucking his hands in his pockets. "So I'll put ya up at my place."

Hopefully his shikigami would behave themselves this time- but somehow, he doubted it.

"We're going to spend the night in a bunch of ruins?" Shinichi dryly asked, vaguely feeling that headache come on again. If only Ai knew how right she was- Heiji was definitely strange. It wasn't a bad thing though perhaps, and frankly, he owed it to him to carefully listen to everything that he said. After all, it was around Heiji that he could openly be himself, even as Conan- and there was no doubt that Heiji was looking for people all this time he could be open about everything to.

And if he could be that someone in return, then Shinichi was more than willing to accept whatever weird stuff might come his way.

"They're not ruins, like I said before." Heiji told him, before shrugging his shoulders. "Anyways, come on. Ya've been wantin' ta know the truth behind the child disappearance case this whole time, haven't ya, Kudo? We'll start from there."

"So you really did have a hand in that." Shinichi observed. The police were still puzzling the whole thing out themselves, and had come no closer to drawing any conclusions about the truth behind it. "Where are we headed anyways?"

"Well, you'll see."  
_____________________________________________________________________

"Shinichi-niisan, right?"

"A-Ayumi-chan!?" His gaze darting over towards Heiji, silently shooting him a look that if they met up with the likes of Ayumi, then word about Kudo Shinichi's presence in Beika would surely spread to Ai. Judging from the look that he got back, it was obvious that he hadn't thought that far ahead, and for a moment, he grumbled to himself, wondering how he was going to explain this to her.

Rather, when did Ayumi and Heiji get on such close terms?

_"I even added a few things extra in for your cute new student- bring her by here sometime, by all means!"_

"Is it really alright for Shinichi-niisan to be here, Heiji-niichan?" Ayumi asked with a slight frown, tilting her head to the side. "You're the one who told Ayumi to keep the lessons a secret!"

"Ah, yeah, he's fine." Heiji said, his lips quirking into a grin. "Well, because of this guy, I'm goin' ta have ta cut the lesson short today though. I've got some things that I need ta discuss with him. Sorry, Ayumi-chan." Reaching down to ruffle her hair, he glanced over towards Shinichi. Well, frankly he had only remembered at the last minute that he'd already arranged a class with Ayumi today. "He's helpin' me ta tie up some lose ends about that case, though."

"Oh, I see!" A look of understanding crossed Ayumi's face, a bright smile crossing it not soon after. "I haven't told anyone just like I promised!"

"Yeah, I know." Heiji said, nodding his head. "Ah, that's right, these are fer you." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out what seemed to be a number of blank talismans, tied together with a rubber band, and passed them over towards her. "Ya can use these fer practice. Well, yer probably gonna need ta wait awhile before they absorb magic back into 'em, since I've been carryin' 'em around, but... Be careful though. Ya don't want ta end up covered in birds like ya did the other time."

"Ayumi never wants to repeat that experience." Ayumi mumbled to herself, shuddering slightly at the memory of it. "But does this mean you're not going to teach me any new spells today, Heiji-niichan?"

_Spells?_

"Ah, sorry, sorry." Heiji told her, shaking his head. "I'll make it up ta next time though. Remember though, be careful. Don't do a single thing without talkin' it through with me first."

"Yeah, I got it!" Nodding her head, Ayumi clutched the blank talisman papers to her chest. "Then, Shinichi-niisan, can you magic too?"

Magic. ** _Magic?_**

"Nah, Kudo's useless there." Heiji said, helplessly spreading out his arms as he stood straight up, casting a teasing look towards him. Okay, he had to admit- as much as he didn't want to see a look of disbelief and mockery on his face, his current expression of befuddlement was actually kind of refreshing. One didn't get many chance to throw the great high school detective of the east completely out of loop, and Heiji was going to seize it for everything that he got. "Anyways, since that case, I've been teachin' this headband girl here a bit of magic, in exchange fer her keepin' her silence."

"Then, the other children?" Shinichi found himself asking, amazed that his voice still worked. Well, alright, considering that he had already come to terms with the idea that witches and fairies worked- and magic candies too, given his current body- the fact that magic as a whole was real shouldn't be that much of a shock. Rather, the thing that threw him for a loop the most was the notion that Heiji could use _magic_.

Real, bona fide magic- no wonder he'd been able to snatch Kaito Kid's prize out right from underneath him. That would explain some other things as well, he thought to himself- the mirror travel, the strange shop suddenly coming to life, the odd behavior from that supposedly haunted house. Recalling the faint sight of golden sparks that had crackled from his hand when he opened the door to that shop, the ones he had half thought were some kind of illusion, he wondered if that was it.

His best friend, his rival, could use _magic_. And magic was _real_. Granted, he'd still like to see a little more proof of it- but now was not the time to ask.

"They don't remember anythin'." Heiji told him, shaking his head. "I erased their memories. It's better fer 'em not ta have memories of such an event in the first place, otherwise they could never go back ta their normal lives. Ayumi-chan here just got spared that 'cause I was runnin' real low on magical power by the time I got ta her. Erasin' memories is a pretty high level spell ya know, especially when yer dealin' with kids who have rooted themselves ta the spirit world by eatin' somethin' there! Ya gotta uproot them first, an' that's a real problem in an' of itself."

"Again, Hattori, pace yourself." Shinichi told him, pinching the bridge of his nose, before giving Ayumi a small smile. "Ayumi-chan, I need to have some private words with _Heiji-niichan_ here, so maybe you should go on home?"

"Yeah, that would probably be fer the best." Heiji agreed. With a nod of her head, Ayumi excused herself, briefly pausing to look back towards Shinichi- before she hurried on back towards her apartment. "She's a good kid, ya know. I promised ta teach her magic on a whim ta buy her silence, but she's really good at it."

"You're not teaching her anything dangerous, I hope?" Shinichi half hesitated to ask the question, still trying to wrap his head around the idea. " _Magic_ , Hattori? Really? _You_?"

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'm only teachin' her kid spells an' household stuff." Heiji promised him. "An' what's so wrong with that? I know yer not the type ta believe in that sort of thing, Kudo, but it's real, ya know. How the heck do ya think mirror travel works otherwise?"

"Ah, no, I didn't mean it quite like that." Shinichi said, shaking his head. There was no need to get angry at him! "It's just a bit difficult for me to wrap my head around, Hattori. I've spent my whole life thinking this stuff is bunk, and you agreed with me for around a year- and now you're here, telling me that it's all real?"

"Well, I guess when ya put it that way." Heiji said after a moment, scratching his cheek. "Sorry, Kudo. You were right that after ya trusted me with yer big secret, that it was kind of not that great of me ta keep my own, but... I think ya've already realized by now why I had my reasons."

"I've come to understand that much, yeah." Shinichi noted. "Look, if I've ever said something around you without thinking that's made you ill at ease-"

"Think nothin' of it, Kudo." Heiji held up a hand, giving him a quick grin- one that was somewhat more tempered than his usual ones. "I'm just glad that yer not treatin' me like some kind of liar."

"Well," Shinichi noted. "You certainly have been providing me with countless pieces of evidence to the contrary, Hattori. As a detective, that's worth it's weight in gold. That said, I would like a little _more_ evidence of magic."

At the long look that Heiji sent towards him, Shinichi rolled his eyes, shooting him a look right back. "You know what I mean, Hattori."

"Well, don't worry yer pretty little head about a thing, Kudo, because if it's evidence ya want, I've got plenty ta give."

There was something to Heiji's smile that once again, gave Shinichi the impression that he shouldn't have asked.


	14. Tragically, They Don't Make Guides for When Your Best Friend Turns Out to Not be Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Shinichi finally starts to get some of the answers that he's been searching for the entire time, Heiji is looking for some answers of his own- ones that he might not find right away.

"The Pied Piper of Hamelin?"

"Yeah." Heiji told him, nodding his head. "Ya remember, don't ya? That was the puppet show that the kids who were abducted watched in the park."

"I haven't forgotten that." Shinichi told him, nodding his head. At the time, he had just thought it was used as some kind of signal to the culprit's accomplices, or perhaps a challenge for the police, given the nature of the story. Briefly recalling that eerie scene they had come across in the very same park they were in now, the silent, rapt manner in which the children watching the puppet show had fixated on it, far more quiet than children ever should be. "What about it, Hattori?"

"That's the culprit." Heiji told him, quirking a grin as he leaned back on the bench, watching a brief look of disbelief cross Shinichi's face. "Ya don't believe me, right? That kind of things real though, Kudo. It's a type of fairy. It creeps into the human world by possessin' someone, an' lures children over into the spirit world."

"Why?" Shinichi found himself asking, deciding to just accept what he was being told for the moment.

"There's no real reason." Heiji said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's just the sort of thing that some fairies do. They're not bound human rules or logic, so ta them, they're not really doin' anythin' real bad. But even so, they can create huge messes. Especially when they appear in a big city like this. They aren't satisfied until they've spirited away every child in the city."

"Kidnapping is a crime, Hattori." Shinichi shortly observed, narrowing his eyes a little. "Human or not."

"Ya suggestin' that a fairy be put on trial?" Heiji asked, his grin only growing at his friend's response. Well, that was the sort of thing he would have expected him to say. "That's not gonna happen, obviously. Rather, if the people livin' in this world came ta know about the other world, that would be nothin' but trouble fer me an' _a lot of other folk_ tryin' ta stay hidden an' live here peacefully. But especially fer _me_."

"Well, that's..." Shinichi trailed off, his lips twisting in a frown. "Well, I _am_ grateful that you found the missing children, at the very least. That _was_ you, right?"

"That's right." Heiji said, nodding his head. "Ya remember that dead end alley ya chased the signal of that headband girl's badge ta? That was where the entrance was, an' that's yer ability ta track her stopped there." If anything, it was impressive that he still even managed to pick up a signal from her badge at all when she was in the other world- that Professor of his was really something else. "Ya _should_ be grateful ta me, Kudo. Ya nearly went an' got yerself abducted back then as well. Ya ain't even a real child, ya know!"

"I don't remember something like that-!" Shinichi began to say, before he quickly shut his mouth, turning a faint shade of red as he quickly recalled his mysterious dream from that night. He had long since dismissed that whole event as nothing more than dream- how he had woken up in the middle of the night, as if lulled by the peaceful sound of a flute, and had put on his clothes, trying to leave the apartment. In the end, he'd been stopped and had been put back to sleep by Heiji- but when he had woken up that morning, no traces of such an event had been left behind. "...You're kidding, right?"

"I'm not kiddin'." Heiji told him shortly, casting him something of an amused grin. "Well, I can't blame ya, Kudo. Ya lead a pretty stressful life. Anyone would be lured by that sound under the circumstances that yer livin' in, fake child or not."

"Well... thanks." Shinichi said after a moment, glancing away from him. "Sorry I troubled you."

"Nah, it's no trouble at all." Heiji said, waving a dismissive hand, his grin only growing. "We're friends, right? There's no way I could just sit by an' let my best friend be spirited away by some kind of fairy! If anyone's goin' ta spirit ya away, it's gonna be _me_!"

It was obviously a joke, Shinichi quickly gathered, glancing over at him with a slight smile. "You say that like I'd _let_ you, Hattori."

"I'd like ta see ya try an' _stop_ me, Kudo." Heiji observed, his grin only growing. "Especially in that shrimpy body of yers that ya usually have these days."

"Magic or no magic, I'm pretty sure you'd still feel a soccer ball to the face." Shinichi dryly observed, locking eyes with him- before cracking a quick grin. "But speaking of Conan's body, Hattori..."

"No." Heiji said shortly, narrowing his eyes a little. He expected this to come at some point- and he could only hope that Shinichi would understand the reason why he couldn't help him there. Really, he did want to help him but... a vow was a vow, it wasn't something he could break so easily. Given what his family had nearly done in the past, he didn't feel like he had the freedom to break something like that. "I helped ya get that candy as a special present, Kudo. Sorry, but if yer expectin' me ta provide ya with a constant supply of it or anythin' like that, yer out of luck. Yer better off askin' that little Neechan fer one of her antidotes."

"Well, but isn't there some way?" Shinichi asked, leaning in a bit closer, taking brief note as Heiji almost seemed to scoot back away from him a little, as if he were trying to avoid physical contact. That was pretty unusual for him. "Rather, since you apparently know magic, isn't there something you can do to fix the entire situation to begin with?"

Heaving a long sigh, Heiji rubbed the back of his head. It looked like he was right on the money then. Here came the real test of their friendship, he guessed- he really wasn't looking forward to this part. "There is, but..." he spoke up finally, rising to his feet, a rather serious expression crossing his face. "...it's not like I can just use magic whenever I want, Kudo."

"I'm _pretty damn sure_ you just used it to give yourself a free refill on coffee not even an hour ago." Shinichi noted, quirking a brow. Still, he got a feeling that they were once again heading into sensitive territory for Heiji- so he might as well shut up and listen to what it was that he had to say.

"That's _different_. Nobody's gonna be bothered if I use magic ta give myself a bit more coffee." Heiji noted, glancing back at him. "It's not like I don't _want_ ta help ya out with yer situation somehow, Kudo. Really, I _do_ \- yer my best friend, after all." As he admitted that much, he turned away from him again, scratching his cheek. "But it's not that simple. It would be one thing if it were some kind of curse, or somethin' like that, but that was somethin' other humans did ta ya. I can't interfere with somethin' like that, not with _magic_ at least. I'll help ya out with that Organization whenever ya need me, Kudo, but I can't use magic fer ya in regards ta that. Ya'd only get regular version Hattori Heiji fer that."

"Sorry." Heiji apologized, chancing a glance back towards him. "If that little Neechan can't figure out a way ta turn ya back ta normal once ya wrap everythin' up with _them_ , I'll consider it, but... I have my reasons, Kudo."

Opening his mouth, Shinichi quickly shut it again, taking in and letting out a deep breath. To think that he would be having this kind of discussion in complete sincerity with Heiji- what a truly strange turn of events. But well, the same could be said of the turn of events that lead to Edogawa Conan being born as well, and that he had long since accepted as reality.

Part of him wanted to press Heiji, to insist that since they were friends, that since this was something he was _apparently_ capable of, this was something that he should do for him as matter of course. In would be the answer to some of his problems- not all of them, but enough, really. As Kudo Shinichi, people would listen to him more, and he could move more people into place where they needed to be, tell them things that were important, that needed to be said. The Black Organization would surely fall.

But wouldn't he just be taking advantage of Heiji's friendship? If he forced it, would their relationship ever return to how it was? Surely if he pressed Heiji, he'd give in eventually- but what would be the cost? He didn't want to become that sort of person, he'd seen too many of them- most of whom who wound up as _murder victims_. It might very well be the answer to his problems- but even without Heiji detailing what his reasons were, somehow he got the impression that it would just be the start of Heiji's own.

"Alright." Shinichi said finally, heaving a long sigh. "Would you tell me your reasons, Hattori?"

Letting out the breath that he had been holding, sensing that the worst of it was over, having passed without anything he was dreading, Heiji turned around, quirking a slight grin towards his friend. "My family's... kind of got a history, ya see." He told him after a moment, almost sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Ya've heard that expression that power corrupts absolutely, right?"

"Frankly, who hasn't?" Shinichi asked. "I'm assuming you're _not_ speaking about the Hattori family here."

"Of course not." Heiji said, shaking his head. "Do ya think _anythin_ ' would ever corrupt that old man of mine?" He asked, waving a hand, dismissing the idea outright. "No way, that's _never_ gonna happen. Well, it's true though that my father- the one that I've never known, the one that I'm tied ta by blood- was that sort of person. Him an' pretty much all the rest of my family... my clan, rather, I guess ya could say. It's a long complicated story, an' here's not really the best place ta tell it, but the only thing ya really need ta know now is that they almost all did somethin' terrible, an' paid the ultimate price fer it."

"Usin' it fer myself every once in awhile is one thing, but if I start usin' it to interfere with human affairs, that's where things would start gettin' slippery. The world's got a flow that it needs to maintain, after all. Givin' myself a bit of extra coffee ain't gonna break it, but takin' actions that might break a possible chain of destiny _definitely_ would." Heiji told him, folding his arms in front of his chest, somehow smiling all the while, in spite of the kinds of things he was saying. Admitting this part to Kazuha was a hell of a lot easier than it would be to admit it to Kudo- after all, Kazuha _wasn't_ a detective devoted to seeking out justice and truth. Kudo was.

"Well, not that I know if this is yer fate or anythin' like that. I'm not all knowin', after all." Heiji added, almost as an afterthought. Rather, given the curse that had been leveled on his friend, he was pretty sure he was _supposed_ to die back when he had been poisoned- it was a mystery as to why he hadn't.

Just like Heiji said, Shinichi could sense that there was more to the story than just what he had told him- but he sort of got the impression as to what it was. Reflecting back on the ruins that Heiji had brought him to the other night, as if it were a dream, his eyes narrowed slightly. It wasn't _just_ time that had reduced that manor to rubble- but rather, it was something beyond just that, a force far more powerful. After so many years had passed, it was a bit hard to tell, but here and there, even in the darkness of the night, he had been able to faintly able to make out the telltale signs of there having once been a great fire there.

That place had been burned to the ground. And if that really was the place that Heiji had come from to begin with, then... somehow, he didn't imagine that it ended well for the rest of his blood related family, even if he didn't know the rest of the story.

"For what it's worth, Hattori, I don't think you're that sort of person." Shinichi said after a moment, giving him a small smile. "You might be worried about it, but I don't think you're the sort of person who would start abusing power on a whim like that. Although, frankly, I still can't believe that you can actually use _magic_. I still can't even believe it's _real_."

"Want me ta show ya a spell?" Heiji asked, tilting his head a little, grateful for both his friend's reassurances and for the change of topic. There would be more on that subject- but it would come later, when they were in a more private setting than a public park. "Would that make ya believe it more, mister great detective~?"

"...It might." Shinichi admitted after a moment, casting a skeptical eye towards him. "Although the mirror trick was pretty convincing in it's own right. Is that how you always...?"

"Of course not _always_. I take the train like a normal person more often than not." Heiji told him. "Besides, it's not like I can do it when Kazuha is with me anyways. Even though she knows now, it's not safe fer normal people ta go through that sort of passageway. Anyways, that's enough of that. What sort of spell do ya wanna see, Kudo?"

"What sort of...?" Shinichi trailed off, a slight frown crossing his features. He hadn't been prepared for that kind of question, and now that it had been brought up, he was blanking on what to ask of him. What sort of things could one do with magic? If he had known his life was going to take a turn where he would have been asked this question in all seriousness, then he would have read a bit more fantasy. "Then... can you turn those flowers over there red?"

"Seriously? That's all?" Heiji asked, tilting his head, as he glanced over towards the flowers that Shinichi was pointing towards. White wildflowers- he didn't know what type they were, that sort of thing wasn't really his specialty. "I ask ya what sort of magic ya want me ta show ya, an' ya just ask me ta change the color of some flowers. There's such a thing as bein' too modest, Kudo."

"You were the one _just saying_ that he didn't want to abuse his powers." Shinichi pointed out, a rather stern expression crossing his face. "What would you have preferred for me to ask, for you to shapeshift into a dog or something?"

"I could do that, ya know." Heiji told him frankly, watching as the look of disbelief crossed Shinichi's face- which only caused a grin to grow on his own. "Absolutely no problem. Well, it'd be more of a glamour than proper shapeshiftin', that sort of magic takes more time an' preparation than I care ta do fer just a quick spell, but..."

"Please shut up for a second, Hattori." Shinichi told him, rubbing his forehead, feeling his head pounding once more. He had said he'd be ready for _anything_ at this point, and was gradually coming to understand that there was a high chance that his newfound best friend and rival might not even be _human_ but still... shouldn't there be some kind of _limit_ to the strange things that he was going to have to accept in a day?

Leave it to _Hattori_ to be needlessly difficult.

"Just... just do the flowers for now. I think that's all that I can handle right at this second." Shinichi said finally, glancing up at him. "I _am_ trying to understand, Hattori, but..."

"Nah, I get it, Kudo." Heiji told him. "Just like I've lived my entire life dealin' with stuff like this, ya've lived yer entire life believin' that the stuff that's normal fer me isn't even real. The fact that yer even tryin' ta understand honestly makes me a little happy." He admitted after a second, quickly turning away from him with a slight laugh. "Anyways, flowers, right? Red?"

"Yes." With a nod of his head, Shinichi watched Heiji with a slight frown, his brows furrowing together in thought. That was right- wasn't it? Heiji had lived his entire life with a completely different view of the world than he had, even before he knew the reason why. Eyes narrowing slightly as he dwelled on that for a moment, he wondered what growing up like that was like- from what he'd learned about his childhood, from the pictures that he'd been shown alone, he knew that it hadn't been easy for him. Honestly, it was a wonder that he'd managed to gain such a cheerful, easygoing personality after all that- he didn't know if he'd be able to do the same.

Watching as Heiji crouched down by the flowers, Shinichi decided to put such thoughts aside. The past was the past, and there was nothing that he could do about it. With a slight grimace as he watched Heiji wave a hand over towards him, a broad grin flashing on his face as he lightly touched one of the white wildflowers, a crackle of golden sparks leaping from his finger, not only turning the flowers bright red- but also transforming them into bright red roses while he was at it.

In the back of his mind, he already found himself searching for the trick, wondering how he had pulled off this illusion- before he forced such thoughts back, forcing himself to admit that this was no mere illusion. This was magic- actual, _real_ magic, the kind of stuff that he had once dismissed as nothing more than a mere trick, a child's fantasy.

Sometimes he wondered how Heiji felt when he listened to him laugh of the supernatural as nothing more than fantasy, even as lies slipped from his own tongue in agreement. If he had caused him any pain by careless words... he could only hope that there was something he could do to make up for it.

"Why roses?" Shinichi finally asked, watching as Heiji deftly plucked a few from the ground, otherwise leaving behind the now improbably growing roses that were sure to gain attention sooner, rather than later.

"Thought ya might want ta give 'em ta Neechan." Heiji told him simply, a wide grin on his face as he set them down on the bench that they had been sitting on. "I'm sure she'd be happy if ya presented some roses ta her."

"We're hardly at the stage where I can just bring her flowers." Shinichi noted, nevertheless carefully picking up the roses that up until a second ago, had been simple wildflowers. Except for their notable lack of thorns, they sure seemed like real roses- from the way they felt to the way they smelled, there was no mistaking them for anything else. "Especially not _roses_."

"If ya keep thinkin' that way, that Neechan's goin' ta get tired of ya one day an' run off with someone else." It was clear from the grin on his face that Heiji was teasing him. "Maybe that detective girl who keeps nosin' around ya all the time these days."

"She wouldn't." Unable to keep the slightest hint of a pout off of his face, Shinichi frowned a little, twirling one of the roses between his fingers. "Ah, speaking of red though, Hattori, I didn't ask you about the Kuchisake-onna case yet. What was that all about?"

"Ah, that?" Heiji asked, tilting his head a little. "That's simple. That culprit B woman had used some real nasty black magic on the missin' suspect ta turn her into a Kuchisake-onna- the real deal. A manifestation spell, usin' the thoughts of those who believe in urban legends, or somethin' like that. Well, I fixed that problem, so there's nothin' ta worry about there."

"Ugh." Unable to help but make a face, Shinichi grimaced. At this point, he didn't know exactly what it was that he had expected the answer to be, but he probably should have anticipated a bunch of vaguely magical sounding mumbo-jumbo at this point. And all this coming from someone who he had thought actually had shared his skeptical views on the supernatural all this time- he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was, for once, _wrong_ about something. "I shouldn't have asked. Do you do this sort of thing often, Hattori? This kind of... _unconventional_ detective work."

"That's how yer gonna put it?" Letting out a slight snort, Heiji nodded his head. Well, he was trying, he'd give him that much. "But well yeah. It's my duty after all."

"Your duty?" Shinichi asked, a slight frown crossing his features. "That makes it sound rather serious, Hattori. You did say something about a job earlier, but..." Come to think of it, back in that shop as well, those old ladies had something as well that had caught his attention at the time.

_"The balance has managed just fine this long on it's own, you needn't feel that you have to fix every problem."_

"Well, it's not all that serious, really." Heiji was quick to reassure him, a smile on his face that gave Shinichi the impression that he just wanted to brush over the subject somewhat. "Anyways, are ya really goin' ta just hang out in the park with me all day? I'm sure that Neechan is done with whatever so called emergency that _ojou-san_ friend of hers needed her fer, so why don't ya go track her down an' talk with her? Ya've only got until midnight, ya know, so ya shouldn't waste yer time."

"Ah, you might be right." Shinichi said after a moment, giving him a quick smile of his own. "Thanks though, Hattori. I'll try and not waste this chance while I have it. Although, you should really be worrying more about your own love life, you know. At least I managed to more or less confess to Ran- seriously, how many failed confessions do you have under your belt now?"

"I'm not keepin' count." Heiji said shortly, something in his curt tone telling Shinichi loud and clear that he was, in fact, keeping track. "Anyways, shut up, idiot. We're not discussin' _my_ romantic problems right now, we're tryin' ta talk about yers. Give me a call when ya wrap things up with that Neechan, an' we can met up again."

"There's more to the story, right?" Shinichi asked, watching as his friend gave him a rather curt nod of his head. He got the feeling that it wouldn't be something easy for Heiji to talk to him about- but whatever it was, he would listen. He'd already basically admitted in a rather roundabout fashion that he wasn't human- and yet somehow, Shinichi got the feeling that there were still things to come that would throw him for just as much of a loop.

"I'll hear it all out later, Hattori. After all, we're best friends, right?" Shinichi told him.

"Yeah." Nodding his head, Heiji tucked his hands into his pockets, a wide grin creeping over his face. When he had first met Kudo Shinichi, he couldn't have possibly imagined that the two of them would ever become as close as they had. Even after he learned his secret and quickly began to befriend his fellow high school detective, he always imagined that there would be something of a distance between the two of them, an unbridgeable gap that was created by more than just physical distance.

For the longest time, he had always thought that the two of them lived in completely different worlds. Even if they sometimes overlapped, they would never connect. The more time he spent with Shinichi, the more that became clear to him. There would be no way to tie the two worlds together- but in reality, the only thing preventing it was his own fear. Fear that the friend that he had ended up making before he realized it would turn out to be like so many others in the past- and he didn't want to risk destroying the friendship they had already built up.

But it seemed like he didn't need to worry about such things in the first place. With his grin growing brighter as he spoke, Heiji faced the one who was seeking to understand him anyways. "That's true."  
______________________________________________________________

" _Koizumi_."

"Don't sound so happy to see me, Hattori-kun, you might give some people the wrong idea." Came Akako's rather dry reply, as she barely even spared a glance over towards the one that she had bothered calling out to in the first place. "You were meeting with _quite_ the interesting young man, if I must say so myself. No wonder you wanted to chase me away in such a hurry earlier."

"Stay away from Kudo." Heiji lowly warned her, turning to glower at her. "That guy's got enough problems as it is already, he doesn't need ta deal with some bothersome witch on top of everythin' else."

"Is he aware that he's cursed?" Brushing aside his words and getting to the real meat of the matter, Akako carefully observed the expression of the one before her. He was quite amusing in his own right, really- based on the records that she had read in the past, she had never taken those who had once been known as Guardians to be of the expressive sort. In the end, they only _looked_ human, most sources agreed that they didn't act like them. Perhaps it was influence from his human family that had made him this way. "Quite a _nasty_ one at that."

"No. He doesn't know." Heiji admitted after a moment, heaving a sigh, realizing that he wasn't going to be able to chase her away so easily. From the sound of it, she had been spying on him all this time- probably intrigued by what it was that had him rushing her out the door, so to speak. At the very least, she hadn't approached them, which was for the best. The last thing he wanted to deal with was watching Shinichi fall for the witch's charms. "Not yet."

"You do plan on telling him, don't you?" Akako asked, the slightest of frowns gracing her features. "Well, it's not like it's any of my concern, though. I would just rather not see someone who looks that much like Kuroba-kun be lured to his death by a reaper's curse. Awfully young for someone who has already failed to die once, though."

"Well, he's the same as I am." Heiji replied simply, unable to help but quirk a slight grin. "Oh? Do ya have some kind of special interest in that Kuroba guy, Koizumi? Come ta think of it, I never did get to ask ya why ya went ta the trouble of draggin' him with ya in the first place. Don't tell me ya've got a crush on that guy? Figures ya'd fall fer the one human who can resist yer charms."

"Be quiet." Akako's tone was rather sharp, narrowing her eyes. "And here I thought I'd actually give you a bit of information that was passed my way in return for the mirror shard. Maybe I should reconsider that...?"

"What kind of information are we talkin' about here?" Heiji asked, casting a glance towards her.

"You still haven't been able to find them yet, have you? The black market broker tied to everything?" Akako asked, casting a glance up towards him. "Frankly, it troubles me as well. Even I understand there's limits to what one should do with magic, believe it or not. Selling magical items to normal people without a care in the world puts a bad taste in my mouth. The fact that you haven't found them yet can only mean that they actually know full well what they're doing, rather than just being some ignorant fool selling items that he doesn't understand."

"As much as I hate ta admit it, it's true." Heiji said after a moment, rubbing the back of his neck, before sparing her a glance. "The mask that allowed the Pied Piper's host ta be possessed in the first place, the dragon eggs, an' that book of black magic used ta create that Kuchisake-onna... I recovered all of the items, but I haven't been able ta track down their source just yet. If I didn't know any better, it's almost like someone is creatin' these incidents on purpose."

"Perhaps to challenge you?" Akako mused.

"But fer what reason?" Heiji asked, folding his arms in front of his chest, closing his eyes. It was a possibility that had come up, but it wasn't as if it was very common knowledge that he was a guardian- those who recognized him as such, did it because of his aura, not because of his name or what he looked like. Ordinary humans would always without fail, mistake him as one of them without too much trouble- but it was different thing for those who could _see_. Was there a chance that he had met this person? But even so, why go through all of this trouble? If they wanted to pick a fight with him, there were more direct ways to go about it.

He didn't like it.

"Who knows." Akako said, shrugging her shoulders. "That's not my area. But I will tell you this, Hattori-kun. There's a rumor that something has gotten the fae folk of this area disturbed lately. I hear tell that a priceless treasure has been stolen from the queen herself."

"I haven't heard that." Heiji noted, a deep frown set on his face. "But then again, the fae in this area don't exactly trust me. Those two sisters back in Osaka are one thing, but..."

"Most of them have been around long enough to remember the sort of things that your clan did, and what they were stopped just short of doing." Akako observed. "I can't say that I blame them. Part of the reason that I'm so interested in you in the first place, Hattori-kun, is to see how you turn out. Like them? Or perhaps different?"

"I won't go down that kind of path." Heiji told her, narrowing his eyes. "Sorry ta disappoint ya, Koizumi."

"Well, regardless, I've said my piece." Akako said simply, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she took a step forward, readying herself to depart. "Do be careful though, Hattori-kun. What's inside of you might be quite different than most, but your body is just as human as those around you. I hear you have an awful knack for stumbling straight in danger, after all."

"Don't tell me yer worried about me, Koizumi?" Heiji asked, quirking a brow.

" _Hardly_." Akako said simply. "It would just become rather boring without you around to bother. Kuroba-kun is amusing in his own right, but he's not nearly enough sometimes."

"Ya sure know how ta treat yer friends." Heiji observed.

"Oh? I don't recall ever saying I was friends with Kuroba-kun." Akako told him, briefly sparing him a glance. "I have simply no idea where you ever got that sort of idea from. Witches have no need for such things."

"Right, right, keep tellin' yerself that." Heiji said, his grin only growing as she sharply turned on her heel, and walked off without another word. It only lasted for a moment, however, before his expression turned serious once again- Akako was right. Whoever was behind this clearly knew what they were doing. He had been able to track both the dragon's egg and the mask to the art brokers that had sold them, but from there, the trail went cold. As for the book of black magic- it would appear that it had been sold directly to the culprit of the Kuchisake-onna case, but even she couldn't give him much information on it's seller.

He really didn't like it. If someone was out there, issuing him a challenge, then he was more than willing to take him up on it. After all, there was no case that he couldn't solve- no matter what kind of case it was.

This would be something he would have to be careful not to let Kudo know about, though. Just like he probably didn't want to get him too mixed up in the investigation of that Organization of his now that he had found some other, more powerful allies, he didn't want to get Kudo mixed up in this matter either. He hadn't had any nightmares about him lately, to his great relief, and he wanted to _keep it_ that way.

For now, it was all he could do to follow the trail that he had. That was the other reason he was in Tokyo today- and that was the main reason why he had decided to keep Kudo busy for most of the day by pushing him off on Ran. He didn't want him to know what it was that he was up to, otherwise he was certain that he would try and get himself involved.

And getting oneself involved in the sort of world he lived in without knowing anything was dangerous. Kudo had enough troubles of his own- Heiji didn't want to add to them, or drag him into his own. If someone was sending him a challenge, then he would face it head on- by himself.

"The fae, huh...?" Heiji trailed off, rubbing the back of his head. "That's gonna be a pain."  
_______________________________________________________________________

"Just to be clear, we were just in Tokyo, weren't we?"

"That's right." Turning to look back at his friend, Heiji gave him a quick nod of his head, white teeth flashing against dark skin as he smiled at him. "We were."

"Isn't this place in _Osaka_?" Shinichi asked, staring almost incredulously at the ruins that he had found himself being lead back to. They were exactly as he remembered them- nothing more than ruins, the old, burnt out remains of a once grand traditional Japanese manor. He knew that Heiji was planning to bring him here at the end of the day, but he had kind of expected that they would get on the train or something- not that they would just walk to it.

"Well, it's somewhere." Heiji replied simply, giving him a shrug of his shoulders. "Anyways, don't worry about it, Kudo. Ah, but, ya might want ta step back a bit, or yer gonna find yerself in the middle of the fish pond."

" _What_ fish pond?" Shinichi found himself asking, glancing down at his feet. True enough, there were old, dried out remains of one, but there was no water- much less any fish- anywhere to be found. Still, after everything that he had seen lately, he wasn't going to take his chances, and backed up until Heiji seemed satisfied. "Seriously, I don't see how you plan on us spending the night here."

"Well, just wait an' see, Kudo." Heiji told him, a mischievous glint in his eyes that was easy to make out. As the setting sun slowly began to lower overheard, Heiji faced forward again, once more clapping his hands, once, twice- the sound of it ringing out through the forest, stirring up dust, turning back the gears of ruin. When the last brick of the once ruined manor fell in place, Heiji turned around on his heel, grinning from ear to ear as he locked eyes with Shinichi, noticing that he was, for once, gaping with his mouth wide open.

"Well? Think ya can spend the night here now?" Heiji asked, planting his hands on his hips, ignoring for the moment the voices that he could make out coming from inside the inner courtyard. Honestly, they had better not be planning on putting on that show again- even though he was almost _certain_ that they were. "Huh, Kudo?"

"A-ah." Stammering for just a moment, Shinichi quickly coughed into his hand, hoping to cover up the flabbergasted look that he knew full well he was wearing. Quite frankly, that had been more than he was expecting- and from the look on Heiji's face, he knew that his friend was quite amused by his reaction as well. Damn him. "Well, I suppose now it's more presentable."

"That's what I thought ya'd say!" Heiji said, nodding his head. "Well then, come on! I'm startin' ta get a bit hungry now."

"Can you even cook, Hattori?" Shinichi asked, a skeptical note in his voice. He might be willing to believe a lot of things at this point- but there was no way Heiji was going to get him to buy the notion that he had somehow learned to cook between that magician's mansion murder case they had worked on together and now.

"I can't." Heiji admitted freely, opening up the gate that lead into the inner courtyard. "But they can."

"They...?" Shinichi trailed off, stepping inside the courtyard, a look of befuddlement on his face. He heard thought he had heard something like voices coming from inside, but there couldn't possibly be...

_"Welcome back, young master!"_

Or there could be. As the identical black robed figures lined up on the pathway in front of them, all of them bowing in sync, Shinichi opened and shut his mouth, turning to look towards Heiji with an expression that demanded immediate explanation for what he was looking at.

"They're my shikigami." Heiji told him, grumbling a little as he stomped forward, glowering towards them. "An' I thought I told ya ta stop doin' that already! It's embarrassin'!"

"Eh, but young master," one of them spoke up, their voice not muffled in the least bit by their mask. "...it's not that often that you bring friends of yours over. We had been hoping that you would bring your girlfriend over a bit more-"

"Like I said, Kazuha's not my girlfriend!" Heiji spat out, heaving a long sigh, before finally turning back towards Shinichi. "They're always like this. Don't mind them, Kudo. Yer still hungry, right?"

"Ah, yeah." Shinichi said, slowly nodding his head, managing to find his words once more. Well, seeing Heiji act like his usual self certainly help offset the overpowering sense of strangeness that had seemed to cast itself over him. This was, he thought, Hattori Heiji fully in the kind of world that he had spent most of his life under the belief that didn't exist- not the high school detective of the west, but the one who probably came from this kind of world in the first place. The one he didn't know as well. "I'm a bit hungry."

"Then, we'll quickly prepare a wonderful dinner for you!" One of the shikigami piped up, clapping their hands together. "We'll have it all set out in the main dining hall soon, so why don't you guide your guest there, young master?"

"Ain't that yer job?" Heiji asked, quirking a brow, before heaving a sigh. He was definitely never bringing Akako here- she would never stop making fun of him if she learned that he had managed to create such willful shikigami. Well, at the very least, the place wasn't quiet with them around. "Well anyways, Kudo, it's this way."

"Should I start calling you _young master_ as well, Hattori?" Shinichi couldn't help but joke, finally managing to crack a smile- all the more so when Heiji turned on him, a fierce glare in his eyes.

"Shut up." Heiji hissed, shoving his hands in his pockets, leading him inside. "It's not like they call me that because I told them ta."

"Right, right." Shinichi said, nodding his head. "Still, I can't believe this huge place is really _yours_ , Hattori." He observed, glancing around the hallways as Heiji lead him through the place, navigating the complex labyrinth of hallways with practiced ease. In comparison, the Kudo manor definitely lost. "You mentioned something about a clan earlier, does this manor belong to them?"

"That's right." Heiji said, nodding his head. "I'm the only one left though, so well, it's pretty much all mine now. Before this, the entire clan used to live here, so sometimes it could actually be pretty crowded, or so I've heard. Well, that was a long time ago, though."

"How long are we talking here?" Shinichi couldn't help but ask, glancing over towards him. He had told him that his mother had picked him up from this place as a baby, and he didn't doubt that claim- but he couldn't shake the feeling that the ruins that he had seen when he'd first come here were exactly as old as they looked.

"Doesn't really matter." Heiji said, waving a hand. Coming up to a room, he slid the door open, leading Shinichi inside. A long row of tables filled the large room, a place that was clearly designed for far more than just two diners. "Anyways, here's the main hall. Honestly, they didn't need ta make me drag ya all the way out here, just one of the small side rooms would have been fine. Sit anywhere ya like."

"Then, I will." Shinichi said, nodding his head, taking a seat at one of the tables, kneeling down in front of it. They were low to the ground, in a traditional style- just as so much else was in this manor. Watching as Heiji took a seat across from him, crossing his legs in front of him, Shinichi quickly shifted his current position, deciding to _avoid_ his legs falling asleep on him if he could help. "Ah by the way, Hattori, you haven't asked me how it went with Ran yet."

"I can guess that much just by lookin' at yer face." Heiji told him, quirking a slight grin. "Ya had a good time with her, but by the end of it, ya came away realizing ya hadn't said a single damn thing ta her about yer feelings, right?"

"As much as I want to deny it..." Shinichi trailed off, heaving a slight sigh. "She's having dinner with her mom tonight, as it turns out. There's no way that I could keep her from that."

"Ah, that's right. Her parents are split up, right?" Heiji asked, briefly trying to recall if he'd ever so much as met Kisaki Eri before. He had heard from Shinichi that she was quite the woman- and there was a distinct note of fear in his voice whenever he spoke of her. If that was anything to go by, he got the feeling that his mother and Ran's mother would get along just fine. "Well, I suppose that's true. I'm sure things'll work out eventually, Kudo."

"I can only hope." Shinichi admitted after a moment. "Well, I hope things work out between you and Kazuha as well. Or rather, it should be even _easier_ for you since you're basically around her all the time to begin with."

"Listen, when it's not the right time, it's not the right time." Heiji grumbled, shooting him a dirty look. "Anyways, that's not what ya want ta ask me about, right?"

"Ah, that's right." Shinichi blinked, a serious expression settling over his face. "You said it before, didn't you? That if I got this far, you'd tell me the rest."

"I did say that, didn't I?" Heiji recalled, nodding his head, giving his friend a somewhat sheepish grin. "Well then, just as I promised, I'll hold up my end of our bet." Taking in and letting out a deep breath, he steeled himself to tell his friend the whole story, suddenly grateful for the practice that he had gotten with Kazuha. "Listen, Kudo. There's more things in this world than ya know."

"An' I'm one of 'em."


	15. One Does Not Simply Turn Away Fae Queens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Heiji is giving Shinichi a grand tour of the boundary house, a rather unexpected visitor turns up on his doorstep, bringing hints of a dangerous case along with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, here's the next chapter! And with this, we begin our entrance into the very last arc of this story- but fret not, my friends, for there's already a sequel in planning! I've got a pretty good idea of what I want to do with it, but I still need to hammer out some details, but I'll post a plot teaser for it when I get that done! Anyways, I hope everyone looks forward to both this last arc and the coming sequel!

"So you're not-?"

"Nope." Taking a sip of miso soup, Heiji barely spared his friend a glance, not even needing him to finish his question. It was pretty obvious what he wanted to ask just from the expression on his face- and he had to say, there was something almost vaguely satisfying about seeing Kudo Shinichi at a complete loss for words. It didn't happen often, after all. Whatever story he had braced himself for, the truth had obviously been a bit more than he had been expecting.

"You're literally just-" Spreading out his hands in front of him, Shinichi tried to grasp the concept that had all but been thrust at him. Sure, he had been suspecting it was highly probable that his friend wasn't human, but he had expected him to be at least _a little bit_ human- to learn that he was human in name only was a little more than he had been ready to take in.

"Un-huh." Picking up his rice bowl, picking up a small clump of rice with his chopsticks, Heiji glanced over at his friend. "I did tell ya that if ya couldn't handle mirror travel, ya might have trouble with the rest, Kudo. Are ya gonna be okay?"

"...Somehow, I think." Shinichi told him, running a hand through his hair, the dinner that had been lovingly prepared for him by Heiji's shikigami- _shikigami!_ \- servants going untouched as he tried to wrap his head around everything that he had been told. "Don't get me wrong, Hattori, it's not like I'm suddenly starting to think of you as weird, but..."

"I mean, I guess I am weird, from a human perspective." Heiji said simply, focusing back on his food. "Yer food's gonna get cold, Kudo. Ya'd better eat up."

"A-ah, right." Blinking, Shinichi glanced down at the meal spread out before him, taking in and letting out a deep breath. "So you're really not-?"

"Nope." Heiji repeated, setting down his rice bowl and quirking a grin. "No matter how many times ya ask me that question, the answer's not gonna change, ya know. It would be better fer ya ta just accept it already."

"Sorry." Cracking an apologetic smile, Shinichi picked up his chopsticks, carefully splitting them apart. "I don't mean to sound doubtful of you, Hattori, but it's just... it's just a bit more than I was expecting." Taking in and letting out a deep breath, he first put a bit of food in his stomach, which was crying out for it even amid his confusion. Feeling slightly better once some of his more basic needs were met, he found himself glancing down at Heiji's own food, before glancing back up towards the person himself.

"Do your parents know?" He found himself asking, somehow doubting that Hattori Heizo had _any_ idea that the child he had ended up raising as his son was anything other than a normal human.

"Considerin' that we've never had a proper discussion about me bein' adopted in the first place, of course not." Heiji said simply. "They don't need ta know somethin' like this in the first place. It really doesn't matter. It's not like my life span is any different from that of a human's anyways."

Well, not unless he _wanted_ it to be- which he didn't. He had meant what he had said back on Mermaid Island, after all. Nothing good came from an abnormally long life.

"That's a bit nice to know." Shinichi admitted after a moment. Closing his eyes, he took in and let out another deep breath, once more steadying himself. Now that he had a bit of time to process the story, it was getting a bit easier for him to accept- and things had begun to make sense. If Heiji really _did_ consider it to be his duty to guard the so-called boundary between the human world and the spirit world, then all of his strange actions could be explained. Even his frequent involvement in vaguely supernatural cases could be explained- if there were rumors of supernatural activity floating around, of course he would be interested in it.

It was kind of reassuring to hear that most of the cases that he had encountered with him had been genuine hoaxes, through and through. Even as he was gradually coming to accept the fact that there were things in this world he didn't know about, it was always nice to know that sometimes the so-called supernatural really _was_ just a hoax created by humans. He wouldn't have to _completely_ rethink his belief system after all, just adjust it somewhat.

Still. To think that his best friend wasn't human- what an unexpected course his life had taken indeed. From the way Heiji had described it, his humanity ended with his body- and everything beyond that was something _other_ than human. For the large part, he had an ordinary human body, enough so that doctors wouldn't bat an eye at treating him, but he did admit that if one dug a little bit deeper than your average doctor's visit, that some strange stuff might start to emerge. The rest of him, as it had turned out, was pure magic. No wonder he could he use magic then- he was literally more or less made of the stuff, from the sound of it.

That was, admittedly, the part he was having trouble wrapping his head around the most.

"Ah, there is one thing I want to know though." As the thought popped into his head, Shinichi glanced across the table towards Heiji. "Exactly how _does_ your kind reproduce?"

Nearly choking on a grain of rice, Heiji quickly reached for his water cup, quickly downing it. Letting out a long breath of relief once it passed through his throat, he looked towards Shinichi, eyes narrowing as he watched a somewhat sheepish expression set itself over his face. " _That's_ what ya want ta know?"

"I was just kind of curious." Shinichi admitted after a moment, suddenly feeling embarrassed about it. "Sorry, that was probably actually pretty rude to ask, now that I think about it."

"I wouldn't say _rude_ , but weird, definitely. _Invasive_ , maybe." Heiji admitted, quirking a brow, before heaving a long sigh, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, although we can have children like regular folk, from the way I've heard it told, the normal method was creatin' a child by gradually combinin' the magic of two people within the clan. Sometimes more." He explained, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, some people from the clan still married regular humans, an' had children with them normally, but if yer askin' which method was used fer me, I don't really know."

"Ah." Nodding his head, Shinichi quietly busied himself downing some more food, briefly sparing a glance over towards Heiji as he did so. Even if he tried, he couldn't really make out any obvious signs that his friend was anything but human, even when he studied him. Well, he _had_ said as much. "So you already told Kazuha everything, huh?"

"That's right." With a nod of his head, Heiji cast a glance over towards Shinichi, a bit grateful for the change of topic. He couldn't shake the existence of something awkward between them that hadn't quite been there before- but it wasn't like he could blame his friend. It was a lot for him to take in all at once, and he really was doing his best. "I brought her over here an' explained everythin' ta her. I _did_ promise her, after all."

"How is she taking it?" Shinichi asked. "Given the fact that you're not down in the dumps or anything like that, I guess she's doing pretty well with this information."

"Pretty much." Giving him a quick grin, Heiji set down his chopsticks, having already finished his own dinner. "Well, sometimes there are still awkward moments between us, but things or more or less gettin' back ta normal. What about ya, Kudo? I hope that this doesn't change things between us."

Although he masked it rather well, there was mistaking the fear and apprehension that was underlying Heiji's words. If he didn't already know what he knew about Heiji's childhood, it would have almost seemed out of place in his usually confident and cheerful friend- but even though he masked it well, it was clear that even now, such experiences had left a deep impact on him.

He couldn't help but wonder if they had met each other as children, how things would have gone. Even when he was a child, he had always been a skeptic- so there was a chance that he could have reacted to Heiji the same way as most other children around him did. As unpleasant as that thought was, he could only hope that the strong sense of justice that he possessed even as a child would somehow balance that out- even if he thought of him as weird, he could only hope that he wouldn't be the type to join in with the more reprehensible behavior of the others.

With a slight smile, Shinichi shook his head. "It's going to take me a bit to wrap my head around all of this fully, Hattori, but it's not going to change anything between us. Whether you're human or not doesn't matter," not a line he ever thought he would be saying, "...what matters the most is that you're my rival and friend, right? There can't be a high school detective of the east without a high school detective of the west to match him, after all."

"I suppose." Letting out a small laugh, Heiji's grin grew, his fear all but seeming to slip away from him at this confirmation. In it's place, however, a more serious expression crossed his face, feeling confident enough to bring up something that had clearly been on his mind for awhile now. "Well, I should probably give ya fair warnin' now, Kudo. Just like with the Dragon's Egg, there's a chance that in the future, the two of us might wind up as somethin' like enemies every now an' again."

"I sort of had that feeling myself." Shinichi admitted, his own smile faltering somewhat. It wasn't an idea that he really cared for- but there were probably circumstances in which their own sets of morality wouldn't quite match up. Some things made sense- honestly, he agreed that the woman who had been possessed by the Kuchisake-onna shouldn't face punishment for those crimes, considering that she wasn't in control of her own body. Other things, however, he didn't know if he could bring himself to agree on. Even if the Dragon's Egg was _literally_ a stolen dragon egg, he still couldn't say that he approved of stealing it, however much he understood that it was something that shouldn't be allowed in this world.

However, that was from a _human's_ perspective. And Hattori Heiji, as it turned out, wasn't human, even if he had been raised among them. He was probably right- there would definitely be times in which they would clash because of this difference. There was one thing in the description of Heiji's duty that Shinichi definitely hadn't missed- it wasn't _just_ humans that he was protecting from those on the other side of the boundary line. It was also those things that _weren't_ human, that he also apparently had a responsibility to protect from those who _were_ human.

"Well, as long as you explain the situation to me, Hattori, I'll do my best to understand when situations like that crop up." Shinichi said finally, giving him a small smile. "I'm sure we can find an understanding."

"That's true." Heiji agreed, another smile slowly working it's way back on to his face. "I'm dependin' on ya ta cover me sometimes, Kudo."

"Of course." Shinichi said simply, setting his rice bowl back down, finally having polished it back off. Maybe it was because they were used to feeding Heiji, but the shikigami here sure did give out awfully large portions. He didn't even know if he could finish off the amount of food that had been spread out in front of him. "You've had my back on countless occasions before, Hattori, there's no way that I won't return the favor. I'm guessing you very much want me to watch your back around _a certain Gunma inspector_ , I take it."

"God, _do I_." Heiji said, rolling his eyes. "I don't even want ta think what would happen if that guy started ta suspect that I wasn't human. Can ya _imagine_ how insufferable he would be if he knew fer real that there were things other than humans in this world?"

"I could, but I don't want to." Shinichi said shortly.

"A wise choice, really." Nodding his head, Heiji rose to his feet, sensing that his friend had pretty much eaten all that he could. "Ya want me ta give ya a grand tour of the place, Kudo? I'd be happy ta show ya around."

"I'd like that, actually." Shinichi admitted, getting to his feet. "I'm a bit interested in this house. How old is it, exactly?"

"Real old." Heiji told him simply, shrugging his shoulders. "I've never really asked, honestly. That gramps could probably tell ya more if ya wanted ta ask him."

"Gramps?" Blinking a little, Shinichi frowned. "Who?"

"Ah, sorry, of course ya wouldn't know." Rubbing the back of his neck, Heiji let out a slightly awkward chuckle. "Gramps is a shikigami my parents left behind, apparently. He's pretty old, an' knows all sorts of things. Well, because he was created by someone else's magic, he spends most of his time sleepin' in the item he was created from in the first place, an' only comes out when someone needs him fer somethin'. He's where I learned all sorts of things about myself from in the first place."

"I _had_ been wondering about that." Shinichi admitted. He half wanted to meet this Gramps now- but maybe another day. He had already learned enough in one day as it was already, and it was going to take him some time to process it. Once he finally managed to digest what he had learned today, then he'd ask Heiji if he could speak with this Gramps, but not before then. "But from the sound of it, your parents didn't seem to be quite as bad as the rest of your clan, if they took such measures to ensure you survived."

"Well, I guess that's true." Heiji admitted, giving him something of an uncertain smile. "They might have just wanted ta preserve the bloodline, though. If they'd really been worried about me, they wouldn't have arranged it so that I grew up completely unwittin' of what I was."

"I think they were, though." Shaking his head, Shinichi cast a glance over towards him. "Well, I may be speaking out of bounds here, considering this is a world I still know nothing about- but maybe the reason your parents had you raised by humans, unknowing of your own origins, was because they wanted to prevent you from becoming the sort of person that lead to the downfall of the clan in the first place. Well, although I don't think it quite worked out entirely as they would have hoped, though, given your rough childhood." He admitted.

Blinking a little, Heiji slowly found a small smile spreading across his face at his friend's words. Honestly, he'd never actually considered that before- and it was somehow embarrassing to think about. Turning his head slightly away from him, idly scratching one cheek, Heiji let out a small laugh. "Honestly, I've never actually thought about it that way before." He admitted, his smile taking on a rather fond feeling. "That wouldn't be too bad, I guess."

Clearing his throat, trying to cover up his flustered expression, Heiji took two steps forward. "Anyways, shall I give ya that grand tour, Kudo? There's a lot of things ta show ya, so we'd better get started now!"

"Ah, sure." Nodding his head, Shinichi fell into step behind his friend. Watching his friend's back, a thought struck him, and he couldn't help but frown, his brows furrowing together as he mulled it over. If there was one thing about Heiji's story that was bothering him, it was definitely the timeline of it. Even if the humans that he had mentioned who had linked up with the spirits to destroy the Guardians were those who were already deep in the spirit world in their own way, he couldn't shake the feeling that such an event would have had some kind of impact on the news of the day.

"By the way, Hattori." Shinichi spoke up, his words causing his friend to glance back at him, a curious look in his eyes. "It's been bothering me for awhile now- but when you said your parents had you sleeping in this place until someone came along to look after you, exactly _how long_ are we talking about here?"

At the expression that crossed Heiji's face, Shinichi knew that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was probably going to be a complete lie. "N-not that long! Maybe around fifty years or so? W-well, I was a baby at the time, so it's not like I've got any memory of that sort of thing!"

"That's a lie, isn't it?" Shinichi couldn't help but ask, one of his brows quirking straight up. "Tell me straight up, Hattori- exactly _how old_ are you?"

"What a stupid question. I'm seventeen, the same as you." Averting his gaze from him, Heiji let out another awkward laugh, wondering what he could change the topic to avoid answering the question. "The time I spent in stasis as a baby obviously doesn't count!"

"And _how long_ was that?" Shinichi asked, a glitter of mischief working it's way into his eyes, as he took a few steps, walking side by side his friend now. This was kind of amusing. Had he maybe found a new thing to tease Heiji about? The _young master_ thing was pretty good in it's own right, but this... this he got the feeling was the _true_ goldmine.

"It doesn't matter, like I just said!" Heiji insisted, shooting him a dirty look. "Why do ya care so much anyways, Kudo?"

"Well, I guess I could just ask one of your shikigami if you don't want to tell me..." Trailing off there a little, Shinichi locked eyes with his friend, returning his glower with an expression of amusement. As he watched it grow in intensity, before giving way to a long, exasperated sigh, he knew from the moment that Heiji broke eye contact with him that he was about to get an answer.

"...A thousand years." Heiji admitted, his voice barely above a whisper, as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "I was sleepin' in stasis as a baby fer about thousand years."

Letting out a low whistle, Shinichi had to admit that was a _bit_ longer than he had been expecting- but in a way, that almost made it all the better. Sure, this new bit of information was pretty strange in it's own right, but the amusement factor of it managed to win out over the strangeness factor this time. Frankly, there were two comments that he was torn between- a quip about how spending that much time as a baby sure explained how childish he could be sometimes and- "You're ridiculously _old_."

"Like I said, that doesn't count!"  
____________________________________________________________________

"An' over here is the-" Pausing mid-explanation, Heiji's eyes narrowed sharply, turning his head away from the room that he had just been trying to show Shinichi. At the tense expression that crossed his face, Shinichi found himself frowning as well, glancing around, wondering what on earth it was that Heiji seemed to be able to sense that he couldn't. "Sorry, Kudo. It looks like I might have ta cut yer tour off short. I have a guest."

"Eh? You get guests here?" Shinichi blinked, more than a little surprised by this information. From the expression on his face, he assumed that whoever it was, it wasn't pleasant company that had arrived. "That's not the normal sort of expression one wears when they have a guest arrive, Hattori."

"I do, sometimes." Heiji almost huffed, his expression relaxing somewhat, allowing himself to draw in and let out a long breath. Well, Kazuha and Shinichi were the first two human guests that this place had ever had for a long time, but there was no need to mention that much. And judging from what he could sense, it didn't appear that their current guest had any intention of breaking that trend- judging from that aura, that was probably some type of fae- and judging from the fact that he could sense it from all the way over here, they were incredibly powerful.

At the very least, they didn't feel malevolent, something which allowed him to relax a little. It was rare, but sometimes uninvited guests with foul intentions in mind could make it past the barrier around the forest. It had collapsed underneath the sheer pressure of the forces that had raided the place in the distant place, but anyone with a powerful enough aura could manage to bypass it. Those were a pain.

Still, if it _was_ a fae... Heiji's gaze trailed back towards Shinichi, his eyes narrowing a little. Sensing the presence was remaining at the front gate for now, he heaved a sigh. Might as well find out who it was and what it was that they wanted- but given the timing, he could sort of guess.

That stolen item must have really troubled them if one of the fae folk was coming all the way out here to speak to him. He knew that they were among those who helped wipe out the Guardians in the first place- and although for the most part, they accepted his existence, he didn't have any illusions about what their opinion of him was. Well, given that their ruler had been alive back then as well, it didn't really surprise him.

"Sorry, Kudo. I need ta see what this is about." Heiji told him, giving him a rather apologetic look. When his friend reassured him it was okay, he focused his attention back on the direction of the gates, snapping his fingers. Answering his call, a black mist formed by his side- and he couldn't help but be a little bit amused at the way he noticed Shinichi start out of the corner of his eyes- gradually forming into one of his shikigami.

"You called, young master?"

"Yeah." Glancing over at it, Heiji frowned. "It seems that we have a guest at the main gate. Quite the powerful one as well."

"That's correct." The shikigami replied, possessing a far more serious atmosphere than they had before. "According to myself at the gate, the one seeking a formal audience with you at the current moment is none other than ruler of the fae of this realm themselves. It would appear that they have something rather important to discuss with you, and refuse to wait for very long."

"The queen themself, huh?" Heiji asked, heaving a long sigh, rubbing the back of his head. "That's trouble. Well, there's obviously no way I can turn them away, but..." Turning back to look towards Shinichi, his brows knit together in thought. "The timin' of this is pretty bad. Do they...?"

"I believe they have already caught the scent of a human, young master. However, we do not believe that they are aware that the human is currently in your residence just yet." The shikigami replied, turning to look towards Shinichi as well. Somewhat startled to now be the focus of attention, Shinichi blinked, slowly pointing to himself, wondering what was going on now.

"Um, any chance you can fill me in on what this is about, Hattori?" Shinichi asked, a slightly awkward grin crossing his face. "Is it a bad thing that I'm here?"

"Certain types of fae folk generally despise humans." Heiji told him, folding his arms in front of his chest, letting out another long sigh. "The queen especially. I'm not sure what their beef with humanity is exactly, but there's no way that they're goin' ta take ta ya bein' here very kindly. This is a problem... it's not like I can just send Kudo away. I sure as hell can't send the _queen_ away."

"If I might make a suggestion, young master, would it not be for the best if we disguised him as one of our number?" The shikigami offered, turning it's attention back towards Shinichi again. It was amazing that he could tell that it was looking at him, given that it didn't have a face at all. "Doing so should mask his scent as a human well enough that it should fool the queen."

"Is that really necessary?" Shinichi asked, frowning. "Surely if I just stay out of the way..."

"Ya shouldn't underestimate the senses of a faerie, Kudo." Heiji told him, shaking his head. "What's more, if they come to the conclusion that I'm hidin' a human here while they're here, they're like ta think that I'm up ta no good, an' will probably try an' find ya on their own. There's a chance that you could really wind spirited away if that happens, Kudo, an' I'm sure ya'd rather not live out the rest of yer days amongst the fae folk. There's no tellin' what'd happen ta ya after that."

"Spirited away?" Shinichi blinked, feeling the color drain from his face. "Frankly, I'd rather _avoid_ that. I have plenty of unfinished business waiting for me back at home."

"That's what I thought ya'd say. Sorry about this, Kudo. If I had known the queen herself was goin' ta come knockin' tonight, I would have brought ya someplace else." Giving his friend a quick grin, Heiji turned on his heel, facing the shikigami by his side, giving it a nod of his head. "Alright, let's go with that plan. Kudo, go with this one here an' listen ta everythin' that they tell ya. Don't carried away with any ideas of yer own- yer clever, but yer still an outsider ta this world. I don't want ta see ya get yerself hurt on my watch."

"Believe me, I understand that much." Shinichi told him simply, giving him a small grin of his own. "I'll trust you, Hattori."

Nodding his head, Heiji once more turned back towards the shikigami servant. "Well, ya heard the guy. Get him all dressed up."

"Speaking of getting all dressed up, young master, this is a formal request for an audience with you. Shouldn't you be doing that yourself?" The shikigami asked, tilting it's head as it stared right up towards him, before dropping it's gaze, assessing what it was that he was wearing. "I do not believe the fae queen is going to be very pleased to see you addressing her in such clothing."

"What's wrong with my clothes?!" Heiji huffed, before heaving a long, frustrated sigh, knowing that it was right. "I got it, I got it. I'll go change. The formal robes are such a pain, though."

"Honestly, you're just like a child sometimes." The shikigami almost seemed to huff, pushing it's master off in one direction down the hallway. "Come on, come on. You mustn't keep the queen waiting, young master. It's very rude!"

"I got it already, ya don't need ta push me!" Heiji grumbled, turning to look towards Kudo, eyes narrowing at the amused way he was watching the scene unfold before him. "Anyways, I'll see ya in a little bit, Kudo. Whatever ya do, don't say a damn word when yer in the presence of the queen."

"Eh?" Blinking, taken aback by this statement. "Wait a second, here. I'm going to meet her as well?"

"Of course ya are." Heiji told him, a mischievous grin crossing his face. "Yer gonna temporarily become one of my shikigami, after all, Kudo. It would be rude not ta greet the queen herself without all of them present. Besides, it's actually a lot easier ta hide ya when yer right under her nose. Ya'd stand out a lot less around all of the others than ya would on yer own."

"Are you sure this isn't some kind of misplaced revenge for the old man quip?" Shinichi found himself asking, turning a sharp look on his friend.

"Well, who can say." Heiji said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "It might be part of the reason. Well, see ya later, Kudo. Stay safe now." With a wave of his hand, Heiji left him behind, heading on down the hallway. Just as he turned the corner, Shinichi could make out the presence of more twists of black smoke, slowly forming into his shikigami, all speaking to him in indistinct voices.  
_______________________________________________________________________

If he had to be completely honest, this wasn't at all how he was expecting this day to turn out when he woke up this morning.

As much as a still much smaller part of his mind tried to quiet it, the logical part of his mind couldn't help but question exactly how it was that he could still see through the solid white mask that had been thrust upon him. He felt rather silly, really, dressed like this, standing among the ranks of Heiji's actual- _actual!_ \- shikigami. It was probably for the best that it the cloak and mask combination completely concealed all of his features, because honestly, he wouldn't be caught dead wearing this by anyone.

The moment the much spoken about fae queen stepped in through the main gates of what he had learned was called the boundary house, he suddenly couldn't help but be grateful for the rather silly feeling disguise. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, exactly- aside from something much _smaller_. The fae queen, as it was, towered over all those present, with magnificent antlers, decorated with an array of summer flowers, spreading out from their head, and long hair in a color he couldn't quite make out trailing out down towards the ground. Though they stood on two legs, they had hooves, not feet, that struck the ground as they walked, trailing robes as equally as long as their hair behind them. Protruding out from the tangled mass of their hair were great translucent wings, which glittered underneath the moonlight in rainbow colors.

And as their gaze slowly turned towards him, Shinichi could feel his heart pounding inside of his chest, the fear that this creature brought to him an entirely _different_ kind of fear than he was used to. In comparison to the overwhelming presence of this decidedly non-human creature, the intense pressure that he felt when dealing with the Organization was almost next to nothing.

This wasn't something that he, a mere human, could do anything about. In a battle of wits, with all of his senses about him... _maybe_. But here, new to all of this as he was, and unknowing of so many things? It was best if he did what he was told for once, and bite his tongue, trying to blend in with the rest of the cloaked and masked figures that stood around him. Noticing out of the corner of his eye that they had all begun to bow, he quickly followed suit, not speaking even as they spoke out to greet their regal guest.

"We extend our greetings to you, O honored queen of the fae." The shikigami spoke in unison, and Shinichi had to fight the urge to let out a long breath as the fae queen turned their gaze away from him, apparently satisfied. "Our master will be with you in only just a moment's time. He begs your pardon for keeping you waiting, as you have caught him rather off guard on this day."

"Understandable." As the fae queen spoke, their voice resounded throughout the entire courtyard, eyes of an indescribable color settling on the main door leading into the house. "The matter of which I need to speak to your _master_ ," and there was a hint of distaste on their voice that Shinichi could clearly make out. "...is rather important, otherwise I would have never come to this accursed place."

"I can even smell traces of a _human_ that has been here." The fae queen remarked in disgust, their nose crinkling at the mere mention of such a thing. Once again, Shinichi suddenly felt infinitely grateful for his disguise, and for the fact that she had passed over him without so much as a second glance in the end. "I understand that your master was raised amongst them, but must he really intermingle with them in such a fashion?"

"Well, don't say such a thing." Heiji's voice rang out through the courtyard, as the main doors to the manor opened up. Underneath his mask, Shinichi found himself blinking, for a moment almost not recognizing his best friend. Were it not for his usual voice, with it's usual accent, he probably have been able to recognize him at first glance. Somehow, the ease at which Heiji presented himself allowed Shinichi to relax a bit, tension washing out of his shoulders. "Humans aren't that bad, ya know, yer majesty."

Unlike his own that covered the whole of his face, the mask that Heiji wore over his own was only a half mask, covering only the portion of his face from his nose up. He quickly recognized it as a kitsune mask, though this one was constructed of black material, as opposed to the normal white that he was used to, it's features traced in gold. The kimono that he wore was rather formal, black cloth with patterns of gold, twists and whorls that were echoed on his dark skin, tracing his hands and feet, glittering there as if traced by gold dust.

For the first time, Shinichi couldn't help but feel like Heiji really wasn't human.

Even with his mask concealing his eyes, Shinichi swore that he felt Heiji spare him a glance, a quick grin surfacing on his face. With that familiar expression, all at once, he felt the unfamiliarity wash out of him as well, and he found himself smiling underneath his own. Human or not human, Hattori Heiji was still Hattori Heiji- no matter what kind of strange life he lead when no one's eyes were watching him.

"As informal with your speech as always, young one." The fae queen simply remarked, brushing off Heiji's comments with complete disinterest. "I suppose that is the best that one can expect from someone who has been raised by humans. You would do well to leave such mortals behind, Guardian, for you do not belong among their kind."

"I'll be the judge of that." Heiji told her simply, grin not fading from his face. "But what do I owe this rather unexpected visit, yer majesty? I've heard whispers that somethin' of importance has been stolen from yer treasures. Whoever did such a thing must be rather bold."

"Or a fool." The fae queen stated simply, letting out a long breath. Vaguely, Shinichi couldn't help but feel as if the courtyard suddenly smelled of flowers. "But your information is correct. I am afraid that an item of great importance has been stolen from us, and I fear that the one who took it has nothing but wicked intentions in mind. They had a _human_ stink."

Shinichi recognized the deep set frown that Heiji's lips took on, and found himself frowning in return. That was the sort of expression that he knew- an expression that Heiji wore whenever he was troubled by something, when there was a mystery still frustratingly unsolved lingering in front of him. Was there something going on here that he didn't know about? Perhaps Heiji himself was trying to keep him out of it- if it involved this world, that was likely to be the case.

As much as he almost wanted to lecture him for it if that were true, he knew that he was doing the exact same thing, by trying to distance Heiji from his own investigation of the Organization. Though in light of current discoveries, such worries almost seemed a bit silly. Still, Heiji had told him already that were he to request his assistance with the Organization, then the one he would get was the Hattori Heiji that he had always known- and not the Hattori Heiji that had recently been revealed to him, the one who stared down an otherworldly queen, hardly so much as batting an eye at her.

After hearing the full story, he couldn't help but feel a twist of guilt at the way he had considered using his friend's abilities to his advantage so easily. He hadn't known what kind of reputation and what kind of history that Heiji carried on his shoulders then, but he did now- and now, he could understand his refusal to use magic to interfere with purely human affairs a little better.

"Well, ya know what they call me amongst human circles." Heiji remarked, spreading out his hands. "If it's findin' a stolen item, an' the one who stole it, there's probably no one better that ya could have called on other than me. That's why yer here, right? I know full well what kind of deep grudge ya bear against my kind, so ya wouldn't have come out all this way if the item wasn't _incredibly_ important."

"Well," almost seeming to spare Shinichi a glance, Heiji's masked gaze quickly flickered back towards the fae queen. If they were going to begin to discuss such matters as he thought they were, he'd rather do it where Kudo couldn't hear them. This wasn't the kind of case that he wanted to get him mixed up in, though he wasn't able to shake the feeling that this case would doubtlessly have an impact on the human world. He had no evidence of such a thing yet, but the odds that the one responsible for this theft, and the one responsible for the distribution of other magical items to otherwise normal humans, were one and the same. "...matters of such importance can be discussed inside, yer majesty. Though ya might have ta do somethin' about yer size first, I'm afraid."

"Very well." Closing their eyes, the fae queen's form rippled and shifted, their size changing until they could more than comfortably fit inside the manor, though they still towered over those around them. "Let us begin our discussion promptly, young one. I believe that this is a matter in which you will have no shortage of investment in yourself, giving your foolish attachment to humans."

"However make no mistake, Guardian. The one who has stolen from us has committed a great crime against us." The fae queen stated, her voice once again resounding throughout the courtyard, a powerful command to it. "As such, the culprit must face our justice. I hope that you can understand what I am saying here, Guardian."

Fighting the urge to once more look in Shinichi's direction, Heiji simply inclined his head, giving the otherworldly queen a tight grin. There was no doubt that he wouldn't care for what those words implied. "I understand loud an' clear, yer majesty. In that matter, I will see ta it that ya get the justice that ya desire."

He could only hope that like a prophecy, his earlier words to him wouldn't come true.


	16. If a Bizarre Murder Occurs and Hattori Heiji Doesn't Show up, Did it Actually Happen?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rather grisly corpse and an unusually elusive Hattori Heiji become the prelude to a rather complicated serial murder case- one in which the culprit has taken a personal interest in someone Conan knows rather well.

"Somehow, I'm not all that surprised to see you around anymore, Hattori-kun."

Frankly, at this point, Inspector Megure Juuzou wasn't even surprised to find the Osakan high school detective snooping around his crime scene, far from his usual territory. Given the details that he had been given about this case, he actually half expected Heiji to show up- while the cases that dragged him to Tokyo were usually more ordinary, he'd long since heard of his strong running streak of rather... _unusual_ cases, to put it one way. He supposed it was only a matter of time before he dragged that kind of thing with him here- as he already had, not even all that long ago really. It hadn't even been two weeks since the body of a female so-called ghost hunter had been found in the abandoned mansion that they were going to use for a film shoot.

He could only hope that this case wouldn't involve half of the strange twists as the last one had. They still hadn't figured out how the crime scene had managed to disappear, nor what it was that had shattered the mirror, or had caused the damage to the room in which the body had been found.

Perhaps the only other thing that was of note was the absence of both Edogawa Conan or Toyama Kazuha- both of whom he would have expected to see lingering around the high school detective of the west. Neither of them were present at the moment, it seemed, and he certainly found himself looking for one or both of them, almost by instinct. Whatever the case, it appeared that today, Heiji was alone.

"You're not with Conan-kun and that Toyama girl today?" Megure couldn't help but ask. Well, given the nature of the murder that had occurred, he wouldn't be surprised if he saw the Edogawa boy showing up looking for information at some point. Though honestly, if he had a choice, he would want to keep the boy _far away_ from the rather grisly scene, something which he wouldn't even think of showing a normal child. No doubt the child in question though would handle even this with that same rather unchildlike ability that he seemed to possess, that allowed him to be around corpses without even so much as balking.

The news hadn't actually broken yet about the corpse that had been found- for the moment, they had managed to keep that information under wraps. Were it anyone but Hattori Heiji showing up to investigate, he might find it a bit suspicious- but as the son of Osaka's chief of police, he doubtlessly caught wind of information much faster than the general public. As much as he hated to admit it, given the nature of the crime, they might very well _need_ all the help that they could get.

"I'm not _always_ with them, ya know." Heiji pointed out, quirking a brow. "Kazuha's got a tournament comin' up fer one thing, that she needs ta concentrate on. 'Sides, I'm pretty sure I'd get an earful from Neechan if I dragged Ku- Conan-kun out ta a crime scene like this. Am I not allowed ta be here or somethin'? Yer officers sure didn't have a problem with lettin' me in."

Megure was going to have to give them a lecture later, about so freely letting interlopers in- honestly, this city had far too many detectives of it's own already, they really didn't need to start importing them from other regions of Japan. Or out of the country, as the case was sometimes.

"No, it's nothing like that." Megure told him. "Rather, we're glad to have you, Hattori-kun. We still have our hands full with just identifying the victim at the moment."

"Well, I imagine it's not easy, what with the face. Or, ah... the lack thereof, rather." Heiji remarked, turning his attention back towards the corpse.

She had been found early that morning washed up on the banks of the river by a passing jogger- who had mistaken the corpse for a mannequin or something along those lines at first. It was only once he turned it over that it's true horror was revealed. It had apparently taken him some time to regain his senses enough to call the police- and frankly, Megure couldn't blame him.

White bone glistened through where the woman's face should be, as if it had been melted away by some kind of powerful acid. It was a rather grisly sight to look at, and even someone as used to dealing with murder cases as he was, had for a moment felt the threat of his breakfast coming back up on him. The first discoverer certainly had- thankfully, he had managed not to vomit directly on the body.

Hattori Heiji didn't even so much as bat an eye at the rather grisly corpse- rather than balking at it, the emotion that seemed to manifest within him was anger. For once, it _wasn't_ the white hot kind that Megure had grown used to, the type that threatened to consume everything around him like an inferno- but something that smoldered, a burn that was perhaps even more dangerous for all that it was less intense. That too, wasn't so strange- it was a rather horrible crime, to say the least.

The only small mercy, he supposed, was that the victim was already dead by the time the acid had been applied to her face. A stab wound to the chest had done it, straight through the heart, killing her rather quickly. After that, her face had been melted away, and she had been disposed of in the river. His officers were still scouting along the riverbanks to try and find where she might have been thrown off from, asking questions of anyone that they passed by and everyone who lived in the area if they had seen anyone unusual. Naturally, no ID had been found on the victim, so they hadn't a clue as to who she was at the moment.

"Certainly." Megure nodded his head, his eyes narrowing. "For the moment, the examiners seem to believe she's probably in her late twenties or early thirties, possibly even her early forties, but beyond that, there's not much we know about her yet. Sato-kun went back to headquarters to see if there were any missing persons reports filled for anyone fitting that description. Naturally, we took some DNA samples too, but unless she's had some kind of trouble in the past, I doubt we'll come up with anything from that avenue."

"Whoever did this didn't want the identity of their victim discovered easily." Megure noted, his expression growing more grave, forcing himself to turn away from the body. It wouldn't be long now before it was transported away from the scene, to be examined more thoroughly, and frankly, it wouldn't be soon enough. Once this story broke, he imagined that it would quickly take on a life of it's own. He could only hope that there wouldn't be a panic. "I can only hope that this was something personal, and that there won't be more bodies like this to come."

That was a look that he didn't quite like to see surface in Heiji's eyes at his words- and it was a rather rare one at that. If he didn't know any better, it almost seemed as if he knew something that he wasn't telling him.

"Did you hear about this from your father? I must say, you got here rather fast, we only found the body around an hour ago, Hattori-kun. What about school?" Megure asked.

"Yeah, somethin' like that. Ah, an' it's fine, it's fine. Missin' one day isn't goin' ta kill me. I already called an' let them know." Heiji said easily, waving a dismissive hand, the distant look that had surfaced in his eyes vanishing as if it had never been there. Well _of course_ he had gotten here fast- he had taken the fastest method of transport. He would have gotten here even faster, were he more familiar with Tokyo. It had taken him a bit longer than he would have liked to admit to get his bearings when he had emerged from the mirror on the other end.

"I see." Megure couldn't help but question the fact that Heiji had basically freely told him that he was playing hooky, but he worked with division one, not the juvenile crimes division. There was good reason for it this time, so he would let it slide. "So? What was it about this crime that caught your interest, to make you come out all this way, Hattori-kun?"

"Because it's happened before." Heiji said simply- and once again, that distant, angry look resurfaced in his eyes, as his gaze once more fixed itself on the faceless corpse. How he could manage to look at it without showing even the faintest signs of nausea was perhaps a testament to how used to this sort of thing he was. Either that, or how _angry_ he was. "Somethin' exactly like this, around four years ago, in a another country. The culprit was never caught."

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence, if it happened in another country." Megure began to say- but still, he wasn't much of one to doubt the instincts of the Osakan high school detective. They had been proven to be right on the mark time and time again thus far. There was something resolute in his gaze that told him he was almost _certain_ about this theory. "Just for reference, can you tell me more about this case?"

"Not just _one_ case, Inspector." Heiji told him, briefly sparing a glance back towards him, before he took a few steps forward, kneeling down by the body, eyes narrowing, as if he wanted to burn the sight into his eyes. "Case _s_. Four of them, in total, all of them found with their faces removed, over in London. The media over there called 'em the Faceless Murders. They were known ta Scotland Yard by a different name though."

"And what name is that?" Megure asked, a distinct feeling of dread that this might very well just be the opening act to something more sinister than he had dealt with in a long time.

"The Blank Paper Murders."  
____________________________________________________________________

From the moment that Heiji had mentioned London, Inspector Megure had a feeling that yet another high school detective might very well show up in regards to the case. All the more so because he knew that he was probably still in the country after the last case in which he had crossed paths with him. And sure enough, without fail, not that long after the news of the case broke to the public, Hakuba Saguru walked through the doors of the police station. He wasn't alone as it turned out- as right by his side was a face that had become incredibly familiar to his officers over the past year or so, as someone who always seemed to turn up wherever there were bodies.

Edogawa Conan.

Seeing him by the side of a male high school detective who _wasn't_ Hattori Heiji was rather strange, Megure couldn't help but think to himself. He had gathered that they knew each other from the time at the abandoned manor, but even then, the one that Conan had been hanging around the most had been Heiji. When he had been _around_ , that was. Come to think of it, he had been unusually elusive during that case. He hadn't even been around when the culprit had been revealed, as if he were somehow busy with something else.

Now that he thought about it, that was quite odd.

All in all, Hakuba Saguru was someone who was more familiar to division two's Nakamori Ginzo than to him- since he often involved himself in the affairs of Kaito Kid. Still, it wasn't as if he didn't know the young man at all, and was quite aware of his reputation as a rather famous high school detective- a reputation that crossed country borders. Given his connections to England, he barely even had to guess what it was that brought him to the station today.

And as he expected, it was about the case.

"Have you had any luck in identifying the victim yet, Inspector Megure?" Hakuba asked. For the moment, Conan was still silent, either waiting for something to say, or was still gathering his thoughts. "I can't help but take a bit of interest in this case myself."

"No, we still haven't gotten any closer to identifying her. No missing persons reports matching her description have been come through yet, and the DNA search turned up nothing." Megure told him, shaking his head. "Although I hear that there was a rash of similar murders four years in London, so I can only imagine that's what you're here for, Hakuba-kun. We haven't been able to confirm or deny any connection that this murder might have to those killings yet, but it _is_ something that we're looking into."

"You already know about it?" Hakuba blinked, more than a little taken by surprise over this fact. It would appear that one of his prime reasons for coming to the station today was to inform them of that very fact. "Well, that saves me some time then. But how did it come to your attention?"

"Is there someone who works for you who is familiar with the case?" Conan piped up, his words causing Megure to frown a bit. So it would seem that Heiji _hadn't_ told his young friend that he was coming to Beika to look into this matter at all- well, it could very well be that it had simply slipped his mind. He had seemed to have had quite a bit on it when he spoke to him last, after all.

After the corpse had been taken away, Heiji had hung around the area for a few minutes more to both answer and ask more questions, before he had excused himself, promising to make contact if anything came up. Since then, he hadn't heard a word from him, and could only assume that he was having just as much trouble in identifying the woman that they were- or he had simply gotten carried away and had forgotten his promise to contact them. Both were possible, knowing Heiji as he did.

"Not at all. It was actually Hattori-kun who told us about it." Megure told them. He wasn't certain _which_ of the pair looked more shocked by this development- the high school detective, or the pint sized one. "Rather, I'm surprised to see that you're not with him today, Conan-kun. I would have thought for certain he would have called you at some point, given how close the two of you all."

"I didn't even know Heiji-niichan was in Tokyo." Conan told him simply, shaking his head. For a brief moment, something rather unchildlike surfaced in his eyes, before the glare of his glasses concealed it, as if he were lost in thought. The moment passed before long, and he turned to look back up at the Inspector, a curious expression on his face. "So? What did Heiji-niichan tell you, Inspector Megure?"

"I'm rather curious about that as well." Hakuba noted, wondering how long ago it was that Heiji had been here. He had only heard about the murder when he had turned on the news upon returning home from school- and had rushed over as soon as he had heard about it. His father had looked into the case from four years ago himself, only to come to a dead end. There had been a big panic about it at the time, although now it was slowly starting to fade from people's memory.

Still, it didn't get that much coverage outside of England. To think that Heiji would have known about the case himself... it was a surprise.

"I asked him for the details of the previous cases, of course." Megure told them, rising to his feet, coming around from behind his desk. "Four years ago, over the period of a month, four faceless corpses were found in various locations in London. There was no connection between the four victims, when their identities were finally verified, and no apparent motive. Just suddenly as the murders started, they suddenly stopped. The culprit was never found. I believe he said that they were called the Faceless Murders by the media. He seemed to be rather convinced that this murder and those murders are connected."

"There are a great number of similarities between the cases." Hakuba observed. "Since the culprit in those cases was never caught, I think it would be a good thing to look into. If only we could identify the victim, we could find out for sure if they're related, and this isn't the work of a simple copycat, or a mere coincidence."

"The police over there had a different name for them, didn't they, Hakuba-niichan?" Conan asked, sparing a glance up towards the half-British detective. The fact that Heiji had arrived in Tokyo without telling him to look into this matter... he couldn't shake the feeling that this might somehow be related to his _other_ line of work. "Based off a piece of information that they never released to the public. Shinichi-niisan's father mentioned it to me once!"

"That's correct." Hakuba told him, giving him a rather firm nod of his head. It was rather fitting that someone who had close ties to Interpol as Kudo Yusaku did to know even about _that_ detail. "To the police, they became known as the-"

"The Blank Paper Murders. Yes, Hattori-kun already told me about that detail as well." Megure told them. Once again, a pair of rather surprised looks crossed the faces of the two- although the one on Conan's face quickly shifted to that of being deep in thought. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm just a bit surprised that Hattori-kun was aware of that detail." Hakuba said simply, shaking his head. Perhaps his father had heard of the case as well? For a man with Hattori Heizo's status, it wasn't impossible. "In that case, I suppose that he's already told you about the reason why it came to be known that way."

"He certainly did." Giving Hakuba a rather firm nod, Megure's brows furrowed as he recalled what he had been told. It had struck him as a rather curious detail. "A week before they were killed, all the victims received a letter from an unknown sender, that contained a blank piece of paper inside, about the size of an index card. For some reason, in all four cases, neither the envelope nor the paper was thrown away, and the police were able to find them in each of their homes. In other words, if we find such a thing at our victim's home when we're able to identify her, then it's very possible that our killer is the same culprit from those crimes."

"Yes." Nodding his head, a rather grave expression crossed Hakuba's face. "And if that's the case, this probably won't be the _only_ body. We can only hope that my instincts are wrong, for once."

"Hey, Inspector Megure, when did Heiji-niichan come here?" Conan chimed in, changing the subject for a moment, peering up at him.

"Early this morning, not that long after the first body was found." Megure told him. "I'd say around an hour or so afterwards. Apparently word had already spread to his father, and he rushed over once he heard about it." To be frank, something about that had been bothering him all of this time, but he already had far too much on his hands right now to worry about Heiji's somewhat unusual behavior. "Still, I'm surprised that he hasn't contacted you yet, Conan-kun. Aren't the two of you good friends?"

"We are." Conan said, nodding his head, flashing the Inspector a quick smile. "Heiji-niichan's probably just so engrossed in his investigation that he probably forget all about it! I'll give him a call myself later." His smile fading, replaced by a more serious look, he narrowed his eyes. "More importantly, was there really no connection found between the four victims?"

"No, apparently not." It was Hakuba who answered, shaking his head. If Heiji really was looking into the case himself, it might be for the best of them to combine forces, however much he didn't agree with all of his investigation methods. And however strange his behavior had been during the last case that they had ended up dealing with together- what had that been about? "The police examined all sorts of possibilities, but in the end, they were never able to turn up anything. Well, it's still possible that they might have had one, and the police simply weren't able to determine what it was at the time."

"Then, in that case, maybe they knew the culprit?" Conan asked, tilting his head a little. "Maybe that was their connection."

"It's possible." Hakuba said, nodding his head. "The police considered it, but they didn't turn up anything there either. The culprit was rather skilled in covering their tracks, especially because it took the police so long to identify the victims in the first place."

"But I wonder why a killer from England would turn up in Japan all of a sudden?" Conan couldn't help but ask, a slight frown surfacing on his face, his brows knitting together in thought. If this really was _that_ kind of case, then chances were, nothing about it was simple. If there really was something vaguely supernatural involved in it, then that certainly would explain why it had puzzled the police so much. And if Heiji really was sneaking around behind his back to look into it, to the point of not even contacting him even though he was in Tokyo, then the chances of that were rather high.

Did it have something to do with that fae queen who had visited him? That had been a little under two weeks ago now- and come to think of it, Heiji had become rather hard to get into contact with after that. Although he hadn't been allowed to hear the contents of their discussion, nor had he been told about it afterwards, if what was stolen from them was somehow tied into this case, it would make sense that Heiji would have shown up so soon after the corpse had been found. It was fairly safe to assume when it came to matters such as this, he had a different, much swifter source of information than most. If that was the case, then...

_"The one who has stolen from us has committed a great crime against us. As such, the culprit must face **our** justice. I hope that you can understand what I am saying here, Guardian."_

If that really was the case, there was a chance that if they didn't manage to track down the culprit first, then they might never find them. If Heiji were to discover their identity first, would he _really_ turn them over to that mysterious creature that he had borne witness to? He hadn't refused the queen after all, so it was entirely possible. As much as he didn't want to think that he would do something like that, at the same time, he was slowly trying to come to understand that he needed to stop constantly thinking of Heiji in the same way that he always had.

The revelation hadn't changed things between them- or so he thought. The knowledge that his friend belonged a different world than he did, just as easily as he belonged to this one, was something that he was still trying to come to terms with. Heiji would remain his best friend and rival, and that wouldn't change- but he didn't come to terms with the idea that this other world had it's own set of rules and laws, he feared that their relationship might soon feel a strain.

He didn't want that.

Heiji had said so himself, after all. That there might be times in which the two of them might even become something akin to enemies. If this was such a situation... he didn't like to think on the possibilities. Still, were such a thing true, could he even say that Heiji would be in the wrong? Would this not be similar to turning over a criminal to a foreign country where they had committed crimes as well? The queen herself was demanding it in this case, and even though he had very little idea how that side of the world worked, it was clear to him that she was someone who held a great deal of power in that world. Power even over the boundary's Guardian- perhaps his lineage itself was what made it so that Heiji couldn't refuse her.

After what his clan had nearly done, it was possible that he wasn't in a situation where he could risk going against someone that powerful. He certainly didn't want to force Heiji into a situation where he might risk putting him in danger. There was so much about that world and that side of his friend that he didn't fully understand, he had to try and view it as a different culture that he was still learning about- and to that end, he would need to take great care.

Well, perhaps he was getting ahead of himself. He didn't know for _certain_ if this was the case yet. First things first, he would have to try and either contact Heiji, or track him down in person. Even if he didn't pick up his phone, he'd probably be able to find him- there weren't many who would forget crossing paths with the dark skinned Osakan teenager, after all.

Unless magic was involved, and frankly, Conan could only hope that it wasn't. The fact that it even existed, above all else, was more than enough to annoy him to no end, as much as he was trying to understand and accept everything that he had learned about his best friend and rival. As much as it would be very likely that if such a thing didn't exist, Heiji himself would have probably never existed.

Still, of all the things that _had_ to be real, it had to be _magic_.

"I could not say." Hakuba's voice brought Conan out from his thoughts. "Provided that it is indeed the same killer. Perhaps they had reason to come here."

"Maybe they decided to move?" Conan offered. "Anyways, I'm going to go look for Heiji-niichan, since he's here. It was nice to see you again, Hakuba-niichan. Inspector Megure, which way did Heiji-niichan wander off from the crime scene? Do you know?"

"Ah, if I recall correctly, he headed east from it. Upriver." Megure recalled, frowning a little. "But can't you just call him, Conan-kun?"

"Well, if he's forgotten to call me, he might have forgotten to turn his cellphone on too!" Conan told him easily, a practiced smile crossing his face as the lie slipped out. Well, if there was a chance that he was really trying to avoid him, then he probably wouldn't answer his phone, even if he called. Knowing from what direction he headed would be a good start in trying to track him down. "Heiji-niichan is awfully smart, but he can be scatterbrained like that sometimes!"

Well, that one wasn't a lie.  
__________________________________________________________________

"Have ya seen Heiji since this mornin', Auntie Shizuka?"

Judging from the rather annoyed tone in which the question was asked, Shizuka could already guess that Kazuha wasn't asking it simply because she was curious. Judging from the equally annoyed expression on her face, she could only heave a long sigh, knowing without having to be told that her son probably never showed up for class that day. It wouldn't be the first time that Heiji had skipped class, and if that was the case, she was willing to bet that it was _about_ a case.

"No, not since breakfast." Shizuka told her, shaking her head, giving the girl that she knew so well a rather soft smile. She had spent so much time around this place growing up that Shizuka had come to think of her as her own daughter- and perhaps one day, when the two of them finally managed to get past that hurdle, such a thing would be true. For the longest time, she had been Heiji's only friend- even once he had begun to change his behavior around middle school, he never really had anyone that he could call a close friend, not in the way that he could Kazuha. "Did he skip school again?"

"Not just school, but morning practice too!" Kazuha huffed, folding her arms in front of her chest. "Honestly, an' he's the kendo club's _captain_ as well! Who ever heard of the _captain_ flakin' out on morning practice?"

"I'll be certain to have a word with him when he comes home, Kazuha-chan." Shizuka told her lightly. "If it's my son, he's probably run off on a case of some kind. Have you tried calling him?"

"He's not pickin' up his phone." Kazuha reported, a rather grumpy expression on her face. For some reason she had been under the impression that now that she knew everything about Heiji, everything that he was hiding from the world, he might open up to her a little more, and disappear without warning on her a little less.

Apparently she was wrong. Old habits died hard.

"I see." Frowning a little, Shizuka considered her words. "Well, I'm sure he'll come back before long, or give us a call. It's not like Heiji to cut off contact with us completely, after all, no matter how involved he gets with a case. Are you worried about him, Kazuha-chan?"

"Well of course I am!" Kazuha huffed, placing her hands on her hips. "That guy always has a knack fer gettin' himself in trouble after all. _Really_." Given what she had learned about him recently, she couldn't help but be more worried about him lately- even though he had assured her that his normal detective work carried higher risk of him getting himself hurt than his duty as a Guardian, she didn't like the idea of not knowing what he was doing, and what he was getting himself involved in.

He had already disappeared from her side once, and for far too long- she didn't want something like that to ever happen again.

Thinking of that though, she _supposed_ that she could go and ask his shikigami about the matter. Heiji had given her a key that would allow her to access the boundary house whenever she wanted, using any door that she put it in. She hadn't actually used it yet, having no cause to, but given the personality of his shikigami, she was _pretty sure_ that they would tell her if she asked them about it.

"Well, I can't deny that's true." Shizuka said simply, giving Kazuha another smile, rising to her feet. "I'll let you know if he comes home, Kazuha-chan. I'm sure he's fine. That son of mine might have a problem with getting himself into trouble, but he's just as good at getting himself out of it."

"That's true." Kazuha admitted after a moment, returning her smile. She didn't want to worry his mother, after all- from the sound of it, he had never talked with his parents about anything. Not even the fact that he knew that he wasn't their blood related son. In the end, she supposed it didn't really matter- he had been raised by them ever since he was a baby, and regardless of what he was, and where he came from, he was still very much their son. Even if they knew, she doubted that it would change anything.

That was the sort of people they were.

"Then, I'll head back home fer now, Auntie Shizuka. Let me know when Heiji comes back, so I can give him an earful myself! Honestly, what kind of mystery lovin' idiot skips school just ta work on some kind of case?" Kazuha grumbled, before pausing, blinking a little. "By the way, Auntie Shizuka, why do ya assume it's a case ta start with? I know that's what I said myself earlier, but I was only guessin'. He's flaked off fer other things before, that one."

"Ah, that?" Shizuka asked. "He got a strange letter in the mail yesterday." She recalled, a slight frown crossing her features. "Since it seemed to make him angry, I assumed it was a challenge of some sorts. When I asked him about it, he told me that it looked as if a new case was going to come up soon, that he was going to start looking into. That's why I just thought it might be this case that he was investigating now."

"A letter?" Kazuha blinked, now frowning herself a little. "What kind of letter?"

"I don't really know. He didn't let me see it." Shizuka told her, shaking her head. "There was no return address, though. Well, that's not really all that unusual for him. He gets strange letters all the time, come to think of it. I'm starting to wonder if it's just rare for people to ask him for help _normally_."

"Well, nothin' about Heiji is _normal_." Although she kept her tone light and joking, Kazuha couldn't help but feel a knot of worry surface within her. What if the case he was looking into this time was something like that? Something that involved a world that was still rather beyond her own understanding, a world that Heiji had been living in without her knowledge for the longest time now.

In a way, it was a bit lonely to think about- for both him, and for her. And that was _exactly_ why she wasn't going to put up with it if he wanted to keep doing that sort of thing, even now!

"I suppose that's true." Shizuka couldn't help but laugh. "But that's just the way he is. I wouldn't want him any other way."

"Yeah, I know." Nodding her head, Kazuha managed a smile. She wondered if perhaps his mother suspected that her son wasn't human, if she had some idea of the sort of things he involved himself in- but it was better not to ask. "That's just the way I like him, too."

"Well, he still needs ta start _tellin_ ' people things though, that _idiot_."  
______________________________________________________________________

Four missed calls from Edogawa Conan, and one missed call from _Kudo Shinichi_.

He was, without a doubt, looking for him. The only reasons he would call him that much- and to go so far as to call him on his _other_ phone, possibly to try and throw him off if he was screening his calls, was either because something important had happened, or if he knew he was in town.

Well, he wasn't really surprised. He had shown his face to Inspector Megure, after all- there was no avoiding something like that. As soon as the story broke officially, he was quite certain that Kudo would be sticking his nose into it, under the excuse that he had been asked to by that uncle from the detective agency. He couldn't help but wonder if anyone at Tokyo MPD actually still _bought_ that excuse, or if they had long since been aware of the fact that the questions Conan was asking were those of his own. Still, whatever the case, there was no way the fact that he had turned up in Tokyo that morning wouldn't be brought up, since that portly Inspector knew how close the two of them were.

There were _also_ six missed calls from Kazuha, and one missed call from his mother. Come to think of it, he had left without saying a word to either of them yet again. Perhaps it was true what they said about old habits- he was so used to have keeping this side of himself a secret, that it was proving more difficult than he had imagined it would be for him to remember that it was alright to tell both Kazuha and Kudo alike that he was working on something like this.

Well, Kazuha was one thing, but _Kudo_... he knew that he had brought up the possibility that the two of them might end up working on two conflicting ends sometimes before, but he hadn't expected it to happen so _soon_. Perhaps it was for the best that he had told him everything when he had- if he had waited until later, or had decided to not do so at all, then he might be in trouble here. He knew how perceptive his friend was, and if he knew he was here, investigating this matter behind his back, he could only imagine what he would think. He'd be suspicious of him, at the very least. His dealings with that Organization of his had infused him with a certain paranoia- not that he could really _blame_ him, honestly.

Perhaps like a prophecy, the words that he had spoken had ended up coming true. Perhaps it was for that reason that he found himself once again stopping at the shrine where everything had begun- Kudo's search for the truth about him, that was. When he had heard from the other Detective Boys about the bad fortune that Conan had received, he got the feeling that what was about to come might be inevitable.

His own fortune had hinted to that much as well.

The thought had scared him more than he would have liked to admit. If there were a wedge created between him and Kudo over the truth, he wasn't sure what he would do. His friendship wasn't something that he wanted to do without, and although it was perfectly within his abilities to erase memories of anything unusual about him that he might notice, he hadn't wanted to do anything like that. Kudo deserved _better_.

He'd trusted him, so he wanted to trust Kudo in turn- even if that had proved harder to do than he ever could have imagined. It wasn't an easy thing to talk about, especially not to someone who had thought everything that you were was nothing more than a lie.

Really, part of him still couldn't believe it had somehow worked out.

"So you really were here, Hattori."

"Kudo." Glancing over towards his shrunken friend, Heiji flashed him a quick grin, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ya tryin' ta be the one ta sneak up on me this time? That's mighty rude of ya, ya know."

"I don't want to hear that from _you_." Conan grumbled, casting a rather sour look up towards him, locking eyes with his rival. He wasn't quite certain why he had bothered to climb up all the way to the top of the shrine, just to see if Heiji really would be there- but he was glad that he had followed his hunch. He had been chasing his shadow all day, and a result, the very shadows themselves had now been chased away by the darkening sky. "I only called you five times, you know. If you were going to come to Tokyo, you could have at least told me about it. We're friends, aren't we?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry." Laughing a little, Heiji placed his hands on his hips, tilting his head slightly. "I wasn't actually _tryin_ ' ta avoid ya. I just turned off my phone so I could focus, an' then I kinda forget ta turn it back on. That's all." Scratching his cheek, he crumpled up the fortune that he had drawn in one hand, tucking it away in his pocket. It was an action that he knew Conan didn't miss.

"So? What kind of fortune did you get, Hattori?" Conan asked, quirking a brow. "I hear that the fortunes here are supposed to be quite accurate."

"Ah, just the usual bad luck." Heiji told him. "Since I was a kid, I've always seemed ta draw nothin' but bad luck fortunes. Ah, although there was _one_ time when I managed ta draw small luck. Found one thousand yen right after that. Used it ta buy yakisoba, got food poisonin'." Shrugging his shoulders, he brushed it off as if it were no big deal. "Besides, I don't think _Mister Worst Luck_ should really be askin' questions like that in the first place."

Twitching a little at the mention of the fortune that he had previously drawn at this shrine, Conan finally heaved a sigh. "So? What kind of case is this, Hattori? Given that you managed to hear about it before any of us-"

"Wait, _us_?" Heiji interrupted, quirking a brow. "Who's _us_ , Kudo? Don't tell me ya've got those detective kids runnin' around with ya this time."

"Of course not!" Conan said sharply, almost glowering at him. "I wouldn't involve them in something like _this_ in the first place. I meant _Hakuba_."

"Oh." Heiji paused, taking a moment to consider his words. "That's _worse_ , actually."

"You really _don't_ like him, do you?" Conan couldn't help but ask, heaving another sigh and shaking his head. He got the feeling that no matter how many years passed, the relationship between the two of them would likely never improve. "I ran into him outside of the police station. It looks like he's going to involve himself in this investigation too, so I thought I should give you fair warning. Now, if you could answer my question about what _kind_ of case this is for you, Hattori, that'd be great."

There was a pause there for a moment, as Heiji searched for what to say. Where should he start? How much should he let Kudo know? They might be racing to catch the same culprit, but the one Heiji was planning on turning them over to wasn't the police. In that sense, they would be opposing each other- he couldn't exactly _refuse_ a direct request from the fae queen.

He had his _own_ reasons for why he needed to catch this culprit as well, and as quickly as possible. It wasn't _just_ the lives of random strangers that were at stake here. That was bad too, of course, but something even _more_ important was at risk.

"If ya already visited the Inspector, ya probably heard about the previous four cases, right?" Heiji began, finally heaving a sigh, deciding to start from there. Eyes darting around the shrine, finding it thankfully empty, he narrowed the distance between the pair.

"I did." Conan said, nodding his head. "The Faceless Murders, also known as The Blank Paper Murders amongst the police. He also said that you seemed to be fairly convinced that they're related to this murder."

"They are." There wasn't a hint of doubt in Heiji's voice- he already knew this all too well. "I don't know why the culprit stopped at four murders four years ago, an' I don't yet know why they've come all this way ta Japan this time ta start 'em again, but there's no doubt that the person behind it is the same one from the previous cases. An' they're also the ones who managed ta obtain the item that was stolen from the fae queen, who I'm _sure_ ya remember."

Conan didn't miss the way Heiji phrased the last part- the fact that the culprit had obtained the item, rather than stolen it themselves. Once again, he got the feeling that there was something more here beyond what he was just being told. Once this case was over, however it ended, he would make sure to ask Heiji about it.

"I haven't forgotten about them." Conan told him, shaking his head. How _could_ he, really? They had left quite the impression on him, after all. Sometimes he could still see that otherworldly visage when he closed his eyes, the image all too real for him to consider it as simply a dream. Nor had he been able to forget Heiji's appearance from that time- although he had returned to his normal attire once his meeting with the queen is over, he had never been able to quite shake that image from his memories. "So? That stolen item is involved in this case? The murder weapon, maybe?"

"No, the murder weapon is probably just an ordinary kitchen knife." Heiji told him, shaking his head. "Rather, the item in question is what the culprit is usin' ta find their victims. Well... I guess ya could think of it as a crystal ball of a sorts, used ta find a certain type of person." Rubbing the back of his neck, he considered his next words carefully. "Aside from the two names that ya've already heard about, that series of murders has another name. But well, it's not somethin' that I can exactly tell the Inspector about."

"Another name?" Conan asked, his brows furrowing together in thought. "What name is that?"

With a long sigh, Heiji carefully considered his words, before he reached into his other pocket, separate from the one where he had stashed his fortune. Holding out what he had tucked inside of it out for Conan to see, a rather serious expression crossed his face, as he told him the answer to his question.

"The Changeling Serial Murder Case."

As Conan's gaze fell on the items that Heiji had pulled from his pocket, taking note first of the envelope with his name on it, his eyes slowly widened- before they sharply narrowed, feeling something akin to anger rising inside of him as his eyes fell on the second item.

A single, blank sheet of paper, roughly the size of an index card.

Unbidden, a single line from the fortune that he had drawn at this very shrine came forward from his memories- the only part of it that had yet to prove to come true.

_The imposter close to you will soon be in grave danger._


	17. In Which Edogawa Conan Contemplates the Legality of the Actions of Fae Folk

"Hattori, that's..."

"So ya really did hear all the details about the case, huh?" The smile on Heiji's face wasn't suited at all for someone who had just announced that his life was being targeted, and frankly, Conan didn't know what to make of it. "Well, that saves me time. If ya know that much already, all I need ta tell ya is the truth behind the case, which won't take any time at all."

"Hold on a second, Hattori!" Conan interrupted, giving him a rather stern look- or as much of one as he could muster in his current body. "You're telling me that the culprit in this case is aiming for your life?"

"Well yeah, that's basically it." Heiji told him, already tucking away the envelope and blank scrap of paper. "S'not like it's a big deal. It's not like it hasn't happened before."

"Is that somehow supposed to make me worry _less_?" Not even trying to mask his incredulous tone, Conan let out a long, frustrated sigh. "When did you get that letter?"

"Yesterday." Heiji said, seeing no reason to keep such details from him. He couldn't deny that he was moved by the concern his friend was displaying for him- especially after everything that he had learned about him lately. It was one thing to be _told_ that it wasn't going to change anything, and another to actually see it in action. "It was waitin' in the mailbox when I got home from school. Seein' as there's no stamp on it, the culprit probably put it there themselves. Of course, I asked around the neighborhood ta see if anyone spotted 'em, but nobody had."

"Do they know?" Conan asked, before pausing, wondering if he should clarify. "About _you_ , I mean. If this culprit really is the same one behind the cases in London like you seem to think, then according to what you just told me a second ago..."

"They probably have some idea, at least." Heiji said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "At the very least, they know I'm not human, an' that I'm not my parent's child. Well, if they've got me pegged as a _changeling_ though, they probably _don't_ know the whole story. I probably did somethin' ta attract their attention."

Either that, or the culprit had been instructed to target him. He had no proof yet, but he was fairly certain that the culprit of this case and the one who stole from the fae weren't the same person. For him to be on the hit list of the culprit, it was entirely possible that whoever this black market broker, they really were trying to challenge him.

Either that, or they were trying to _eliminate_ him. The mass kidnapping case in Beika, the Kuchisake-onna case in Osaka, and the Dragon's Egg that was at the center of a Kid heist. He couldn't help but wonder _how much_ this black market broker knew about him. It was looking less and less like these cases were pure coincidence, especially when he factored in the latest one. He really did have to figure out their identity and capture them before things got out of hand. From what the fae queen had said, at the very least, it seemed as if they were human, but...

Well, for now, his priority was the case in front of him.

"That's true. From what I remember, you don't entirely fit the description of a changeling." Catching sight of Heiji's somewhat amused grin, Conan shot him a rather sour look. "Don't give me that kind of look. Even if I didn't believe in that sort of thing, it's not like I don't know about _some_ things. Besides, if fairies are real," and there was a line he never thought he'd have to say, "...then it makes sense that changelings might be real as well. They're basically fairies that have taken the place of human children, right?"

"That's more or less right. Well, it's not always _just_ fairies though, but in this case, fairy changelings are the culprit's main target. The four victims from the previous cases were all changelings, an' I'm pretty sure that _neesan_ who turned up dead today was one as well." Heiji told him, folding his arms in front of his chest, his eyes narrowing as he dwelled on that scene once more. "I still don't know who she might have been just yet, but I'm gettin' pretty close ta findin' out. But that at least, I already know."

"Given the extent of damage the victim had to her face, it's safe to say that our culprit probably has some kind of grudge against changelings." Despite the situation, Conan couldn't help but crinkle his nose at his own words, still not fully able to believe this was something he was seriously discussing. Still, it didn't change the fact that a woman was dead- and human or not, that was unforgivable. Just like it was Heiji's duty to deal with the theft of the fae's stolen item and what it resulted in, it was his own duty as a detective to solve this case. "This item that was stolen- what does it do exactly? You mentioned it being something like a crystal ball."

"I didn't think ya'd be so interested, Kudo." Heiji couldn't help but observe, crouching down next him, unable to keep a slight grin off of his face, as he reached over to ruffle his friend's hair. He had thought for sure that once he found out about the more supernatural elements of the case, he would distance himself from it- but it appeared that wasn't the case.

"A woman is dead." Conan said simply. "There's no way I can just ignore that. Plus..."

"Yer worried that if ya can't find the culprit before me, they might disappear entirely, right?" Heiji asked, giving voice to his friend's unspoken thoughts. His smile didn't entirely fade, but it took on an edge to it that was decidedly _not_ one of happiness. "Well, I'll be frank, Kudo, yer not wrong about that. Sorry, but I made a promise that I can't go back on. The queen has every right ta be able ta punish the culprit just as much as the human police do."

"I can understand that, at least a little bit." Conan admitted after a moment, feeling the smallest bit of tension wash out of his shoulders. The fact that Heiji was being so honest about the matter was almost a relief- rather than let it sit like some unspoken cancer between the two of them, this was frankly better. "What kind of deal did you make with them?"

"That if I caught them, I'd bring them ta be judged by her." Heiji said simply. "Well, this was before I knew that the stolen item would be used fer _murder_ , though. Still no goin' back on my word, though I imagine if the human police catch 'em first, even the fae queen will understand. So long as someone's punishin' 'em, even if it is humans, they'll probably be satisfied. But breakin' a promise with one of the fae folk is a _real_ bad idea, even fer someone like me."

"I'll keep that in mind." Conan said lightly. "But if you catch them first, are you really going to turn them over, Hattori?"

"Yeah. Sorry, Kudo." Nodding his head, Heiji rubbed the back of his neck, casting his eyes skyward, taking note of the vivid red color the setting sun was dying the sky. He should probably at least give his mother a call later to let her know that he wouldn't be coming home today. Until the threat over his head was gone, it was probably for the best that he avoided his house. The last thing he wanted was for anyone around him to be dragged into this mess.

"I see." Taking in a long breath, Conan let a brief pause of silence linger between the two of them, before he turned his gaze back towards Heiji once more. "I can't say that I like it, but you'll just have to work hard to make sure you can find them before _I_ can. And well, Hakuba too, I guess."

"That asshole just _had_ ta involve himself in this." Heiji muttered, heaving a long sigh. Given the location of the previous four cases, he wasn't all _that_ surprised that this new murder had caught his attention, even though he'd been hoping that wouldn't be the case. "I was hopin' that he had gone back ta England already, or wherever it is that he runs off ta when he's overseas."

"He knows that you're investigating the matter as well." Conan advised him. "Be careful, Hattori. Since he doesn't know what _I_ do, if you make any moves around him that are suspicious, who knows what he'll think you're up to. He was suspicious enough of your actions the other day, you should _probably_ try and keep something of a low profile for your own sake."

"Well, that's easier said than done." Heiji observed, standing up straight again, scratching his cheek. "I'm not sure if ya've noticed this Kudo, but I tend ta stand out." Grinning a little, he couldn't help but feel a bit of the tension in his heart lighten. That definitely could have gone much worse. "What, ya worried about me?"

"Of course I am, idiot. I'm more worried about the fact that your life is being targeted than I'm worried about Hakuba, though." Conan said simply, giving him a rather stern look. "Even if the two of us might not be working to _entirely_ the same end this time, you're still my best friend. Besides, how would I ever be able to face Kazuha-chan again if I let something happen to you in my own hometown?"

"Speaking of Kazuha-chan though, does she know about this?" Conan asked, almost as an afterthought. He couldn't imagine that she would let him come to Tokyo on his own if she did.

"Of course not. I wouldn't tell her somethin' like this in the first place." Heiji told him simply, closing his eyes and letting out a long sigh. "She'd just spend all of her time worryin' about me." Giving his friend a rather stern look of his own now, his lips twisted in a tight frown. "Don't ya be thinkin' about tellin' her about it either, Kudo. It's fine if she knows I'm workin' on a case up here, but it's better fer her if she doesn't know my life might be on the line. Got it?"

"Only if you promise to be _careful_ , Hattori." Conan told him, narrowing his eyes. Really, he half wanted to not let him out of his sights after hearing such news. Not that Heiji would make that _easy_ for him. "You tend to be pretty reckless, so don't take any needless risks. You were the one who said that your body's mostly human, so take care of it like one."

"I'm not really sure yer someone who can lecture me about risk takin', Kudo. Ya've got even _less_ of an excuse than _I_ do." Heiji noted, quirking a brow, before heaving a long sigh, flashing him a quick smile. "Okay, okay. Since my _best friend_ is so worried about me, I'll be careful. Ya gotta promise the same though, okay? There's no tellin' what a culprit that's willin' ta _melt people' faces off_ is willin' ta do if they think they're cornered, even if it's by a kid. I know ya've got all those gadgets made by that Professor of yers, but whoever we're dealin' with here probably can use some magic, so keep that in mind."

"Of course they can." Not even trying to contain his dry tone, Conan rubbed his forehead, trying to work out the faint headache that he was already feeling. "But I'll be careful, Hattori. Any chance you want to share some of your information with me though? In the end, we are at least working to try and catch the same person, if not _for_ the same person. It would be better if we worked together, in order to prevent more murders like this from happening."

He didn't need to be told that there would be more. That was a given.

"I don't mind sharin' information with ya, Kudo, but I don't know about workin' together, least not side by side." Heiji said, shaking his head, looking more than a little grumpy about it himself. Honestly, he _hated_ the idea of being in the same place, and not being able to fully work together with his friend. "The item that the culprit is usin' ta find their targets is a fairy mirror." Holding up a hand to his eye, he formed a circle with his fingers in front of it. "It's an object small enough ta fit in the palm of yer hand. They can use it ta see auras an' things like that. It can tell ya other things about the person yer lookin' at through it too."

"So in other words, if they used somethin' like that on _ya_..." Heiji trailed off there, hoping that he was more or less catching his drift.

"Yeah, I kind of see where you're going with this." Conan noted, grimacing a little. To think that such an item existed- and as much as he thought something like that really _shouldn't_ be in this world, in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think that something like that would be really useful to him. He already knew what the answer would be if he asked Heiji if he could borrow it for a few minutes after he got it back, though.

After actually seeing the fae queen in person, he was _pretty sure_ that it was a bad idea to do anything to make them angry. Best not to even try it.

"Yeah, sorry." Heiji apologized again. "Frankly, even if we're at somethin' of odds here, I hate the idea of not bein' able ta work with ya, Kudo. But if ya hang out with me, there's a chance that ya might attract their attention, cause ta be frank, ya raise a lot of red flags in yer own way. Maybe stick with Hakuba, if yer so worried about him thinkin' I'm up ta anythin' weird. Try an' keep him out of trouble too, while yer at it."

"So in other words, I'm on babysitting duty again." Conan couldn't help but observe, quirking a brow.

"That's pretty much it." Heiji told him, flashing a broad grin. "I'm glad that ya understand, Kudo. I'll give ya a call if I learn anythin' important."

"And if you learn who the culprit is first?" Conan asked, locking eyes with him. "Will you call me then?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Heiji's expression briefly became unreadable. "Who knows? I could be askin' ya the same question."

Unable to help himself, Conan let out a small laugh. "You've got a fair point. Good luck, Hattori."

"Yeah. Same ta ya, Kudo."  
_____________________________________________________________________

"Ah, if you're looking for the young master, I believe he went to Tokyo."

"I should have known." Placing her hands on her hips, Kazuha let out a long sigh. "Any chance that he told any of ya anythin' about the case he was goin' ta work on before he left? There's no way it doesn't involve somethin' like, well..." trailing off a little, she spread her arms out around her, motioning to the whole manor around her, "...things like all this."

"That's one way of putting it." The shikigami that had greeted her upon her arrival observed, before shaking their head. "Forgive me, Toyama-san. The young master certainly stopped by here before he left, but aside from telling us where he was going, he didn't give us too many details about what it was that he was going to Tokyo for. Something about a murder case there, I believe he said. He might be staying in this residence tonight though, so if you want to wait for him to return, we can show you to a place you can wait for him in the meantime."

"Yeah, let's do that." Kazuha said, giving the shikigami a rather curt nod of her head. Thank goodness Heiji's shikigami were like this, really- even if there was a part of her that was still having trouble wrapping her head around that idea. Even the part of her who had always thought Heiji's claims that the things he had said as a child were all lies wasn't true was having trouble grasping the whole of it. "Thanks. If that _idiot_ just thinks he can run off without warnin' like this on me now that I know the truth, he's got another thing comin'!"

"Well, he's probably just gotten used to it." The shikigami said lightly. "If you'll follow us this way, Toyama-san. We would ask that you stay put where I lead you to, otherwise you might find yourself lost in the manor. Would you like us to bring you anything to eat?"

"Ah no, I'm fine." Kazuha said, waving a hand. "Just in case, I'd better let my parents know I won't be home fer awhile." Pulling out her cellphone, more than a little surprised that it seemed that she actually got service here, she quickly shot her mother a message. "He really will be comin' back here, right? Usually when he's in Tokyo he crashes at the Detective Agency, after all."

"He did tell us to keep the manor at readiness in the event that he decided to spend the night here." The shikigami said simply, sliding open a door to one of the many rooms that lined the hallway. "As soon as he arrives, one of our number will bring him here to meet you, and you can properly scold him. We'll be quite sure not to let him run away."

"I'm countin' on ya." With a rather firm nod of her head, Kazuha cast a grateful smile towards the shikigami. Well, she supposed she would get used to this whole thing after awhile- it was only her understanding of her childhood friend that had changed- nothing had actually changed about Heiji, in reality. Besides, what kind of childhood friend would she be if she couldn't accept something like this?

Besides, from the sound of it, Heiji had already told Kudo Shinichi person, out of all possible people, about the truth as well. And if _that_ _guy_ could manage to accept it, then _she_ sure as hell could.

Not that she didn't think that was a _good_ thing, though. Rather, the fact that Heiji had finally been able to make himself another friend after all this time who tried to even just understand that part of him... it actually made her kind of happy. It certainly improved her impression of the almost perpetually absent detective of the east, just by a little bit. Make no mistake though, the first chance she really got, she would still _definitely_ give that guy a proper piece of her mind for leaving Ran behind like that!

Maybe just a little bit _less_ of it than she had been planning to before.  
_____________________________________________________________________

"Were you not able to find Hattori-kun, Conan-kun?"

"No." Lying through his teeth, Conan shook his head. Given the impression Hakuba probably had of their relationship, and certainly the impression the Tokyo MPD had of it, there was no way he'd be able to explain the fact that he wasn't following Heiji around this time. It was better to play it off as the two of them not having met each other yet. "He still has his cellphone off. Well, he's always kind of been a bit forgetful like that."

"I see." For as strange as Heiji's behavior had been the last time the two had met, Hakuba was more than ready to accept that explanation. After all, even though it had improved at the end, his overall impression of Heiji was still that of someone who was a bit careless. "I suppose it can't be helped then. It would appear the police have a lead about who the victim is. I'm heading to what might be her apartment now."

"Yeah, I know. Detective Takagi called me." Conan told him, nodding his head. Well, he had called him hoping that he could pass the message along to Heiji- everyone really _did_ just naturally assume that the two of them would be working together on this. Not that he wouldn't like to- it was a bit awkward to not have him around. Of course, he'd already passed on the information that Takagi had sent him on to Heiji, so perhaps they would run into each other at the apartment.

"In that case, would you like to come along with me?" Hakuba asked, glancing down towards the child. Young though he was, the boy had rather good insight at times. He probably had the potential to one day surpass him, and he couldn't say that he wasn't somewhat looking forward to it. "Perhaps we'll even cross paths with Hattori-kun there, if he really is as good as people say he is. Not that he did all that much during the _last_ case we were all involved in together."

"Ah, that was..." Trailing of a little, Conan let out something of an awkward laugh. He really didn't care for his friend being bad mouthed like this, even if that was how it surely looked to the casual outsider. There was no way he could tell Hakuba the truth, and he doubted he would believe him even if he did. Suddenly, he couldn't help but feel a little bit more sympathy for Heiji's previous situation with him. "Heiji-niichan was a bit distracted that day. He had something else that he was working on."

"Something else?" With a slight frown, Hakuba accepted his words easily enough, even though he sensed that Conan knew something that he wasn't quite telling him. He didn't quite care enough about the detective of the west to really be all _that_ curious in regards to what he had been up to on that day- although he _was_ still somewhat curious as to what his relationship to Akako and Kaito was. He'd tried asking the both of them about it, and hadn't gotten very direct answers.

"Yeah, something else." Conan told him, nodding his head. "More importantly, our victim's name is Takahira Naoko, right? According to what Detective Takagi sent me, she's a twenty four year old woman who works at a local family restaurant. She didn't show up for work today, and didn't call in either, and nobody has seen her since yesterday. What's more, the apartment that she lives in is upstream from where the body was found."

"That's right. Her face aside, the rest of her mostly matches the description of the victim. They both have the same height and build." Hakuba told him. "If she's anything like the other victims, and this case really is related to the ones from London as my hunch tells me it is, then she'll probably have kept the blank paper that she received in the mail, envelope and all."

"Let's hope so." Conan said, his eyes narrowing in thought. According to what Heiji had told him, people who were changelings usually weren't even aware of that fact. To be killed because of it... it really did leave a bad taste in his mouth, and not _just_ because he was being forced to admit that something else that he would have decried as fake not even a few weeks ago was really true. It wasn't as if the switched babies had any say in the matter.

When he and Heiji had parted ways, he had told Conan that he was going to be looking into the background of the very first victim a little bit more closely. Since the culprit didn't have the fairy mirror back then, they must have had another method of telling who was and wasn't a changeling- although it still didn't answer the question of why the murders had suddenly stopped for several years, and why they were starting again so suddenly.

Given the fact that Heiji had received a blank paper himself, it was pretty safe to say that this case and the cases from four years ago were likely related. Since that piece of information was never leaked by the media, a copycat would have been highly unlikely- if it wasn't the same culprit, it was someone _very_ closely tied to the original one. He didn't know if Heiji had been aware that something like this might start happening even before he received the letter, and he didn't know how he had found out about the corpse quickly, but it was safe to assume he had his own sources of information. He understood this kind of thing better than he did- he wasn't stubborn enough to deny that much. Still, as much as this case dove into Heiji's territory, the culprit was still very much human, and as such, it was still something that he was very capable of solving himself, even without a deeper understanding of the world that he was only starting to get to know.

"Ah, it's this place!" Breaking himself out of his own thoughts, Conan glanced up at the small apartment building. "According to Detective Takagi, her room is the third room on the second floor. He also says that the police will be arriving soon, so we shouldn't disturb too much."

"For now, let's try knocking on the door." Hakuba said. Heading up the stairs to the apartment with Conan in tow, he knocked on the door, straining his ears for any sign of anyone being home. The apartments didn't seem to be so well constructed that he wouldn't be able to make out sounds coming from inside of it. After going a minute without a response, he knocked once more, clearing his throat to call out for the woman. "Takahira-san? Are you there?"

"Look at the lock." Conan observed, his eyes darting up towards it. Around the keyhole, there were marks indicating that someone had entered the room without a key. "Someone has definitely been here that shouldn't have been."

"So it would seem." Hakuba observed, narrowing his eyes. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his handkerchief, and covered his hand with it, giving the doorknob a twist. When it opened right up, he exchanged a glance with Conan, his eyes narrowing. As a silent understanding passed between the two detectives, Hakuba opened the door all the way, carefully stepping inside the apartment, so as to not disturb anything. Just from the entryway alone, they could tell that something was wrong- the remains of a shattered flowerpot was the first thing that greeted them.

It was looking more and more like their missing person might not be quite so much _missing_ as she was _dead_.  
___________________________________________________________________

That was, admittedly, a _bit_ closer than he would have liked. He had managed to slip through one of the mirrors in the apartment just as the door opened up. If Hakuba hadn't taken the time to knock on the door first, he might not have had the time to get out of there. From the sound of it, Conan was with him as well, having probably joined up with the other high school detective like he had asked him to. It wouldn't have necessarily been a _bad_ thing if Hakuba had caught him there- he had a perfectly good reason to be in the victim's apartment, after all, but after last time, he just kind of wanted to avoid Hakuba.

Okay, so he wanted to avoid Hakuba in _general_ , but the current circumstances definitely helped.

Visiting the victim's apartment confirmed what he had already suspected, ever since he had found that paper in his mailbox- that this case was tied to the one from four years ago. Or rather, he had vaguely suspected something like this ever since he had heard what was stolen from the fae queen. Someone who had an item like that could use it to do any number of things, and given that there were any number of even more valuable objects that the thief could have stolen instead, he could only imagine that there was a specific reason why the fairy mirror would have been chosen. When he finally caught the culprit, the first thing he would do was grill them about the black market broker for everything they were worth. He was going to catch their tail, one way or another.

It was both his pride as a Guardian, and his pride as detective that were riding on the line here. If someone was trying to challenge him- or perhaps even eliminate him, he wasn't going to allow them to do either thing so easily.

Slipping out of a mirror in an empty public restroom, Heiji let out the breath he had been holding ever since he had heard the knock on the door. He had left everything just how he had found it, and hadn't nearly been stupid enough to leave any apparent signs that he had been there. It wasn't his first time doing an under the table investigation like this. Taking off the gloves that he had been wearing to look around, he threw them away in the nearby garbage can, before exiting the restroom, taking stock of where he was. A public park, from the looks of it. That was one of the main problems with this method of transport, really- it wasn't always that easy to end up _exactly_ where you wanted, unless you already knew where you were going.

Well, he'd reorient himself in a little bit. For the moment, there was something else that he needed to check out. He had three important questions about this case that he needed to find answers for- why the culprit had such a deep grudge against changelings in the first place, why the murders had stopped four years ago, and why they had started back up in _Japan_ of all places.

It wasn't as if they couldn't obtain a fairy mirror in other countries- England's fae community was even more prominent than the one here, after all. Perhaps it had something to do with the black market broker themselves- which would mean there was a chance they might have known who the culprit was, and had contacted them themselves. If that was the case...

It was even important than he thought to catch this bastard. Of course, he didn't care for his own life being threatened, and of course, the lives that he had already taken was something that he couldn't forgive- but if he caught this bastard, he might be able to prevent further things like this from happening. After the Kuchisake-onna case, he had gotten the impression that the scale of the cases might only go up from there- and it would appear that he had been right.

It was one of the few times he _hated_ being right, really. Of all the things to deal with, it had to be a serial killer targeting changelings. The fae queen had been right- he really _did_ have every reason in the world to want to put a stop them as quickly as possible.

And not just for his _own_ sake. If he wasn't careful, then...

He wouldn't let something like that happen- wouldn't even let them know that there was a _chance_ of it happening. If he could keep them in the dark forever, that would be for the best. Fortunately, Conan hadn't noticed the slight lie that he had told him earlier, nor the inconsistency between this matter, and the fortune that he had received, which was surely on his mind. If he could keep it that way, it would be for the best.

"Ah, that's right though. Speakin' of that..." Blinking as he pulled out his cellphone, Heiji winced as he noticed that he had three more missed calls from Kazuha, and one very annoyed mail from her. It wasn't hard to guess that she was super pissed at him- and to some extent, he felt like he could understand why.

"...I should _probably_ call her, huh?"  
______________________________________________________________________

As Conan watched those around him try and determine what the culprit's motive might be, he couldn't help but wonder if this was how Heiji felt sometimes. Having the knowledge of exactly what the reason behind the murders was, and yet not being able to tell anyone because it sounded absurd was a decidedly unpleasant and annoying feeling. He didn't know how Heiji could stand it- it was right there, on the tip of his tongue, as he watched the police try and sort through the woman's relations, trying to find a way to connect her to the previous four victims. Of course they wouldn't find it- because was out of the realm of common sense.

Of course, they could be lead into thinking the culprit was simply delusional, and was under the impression that such a ridiculous thing as changelings existed, but frankly, he was uncomfortable with that. He didn't like the idea of essentially dragging those with mental health issues through the mud just to come up with an excuse to cover up the supernatural aspects of the case. They might end up coming to that conclusion on their own when the culprit was caught, but he wasn't going to lead them to it himself.

Provided they _caught_ him, that was, and Heiji didn't find him first, spiriting him away to who knows where, for who knows what kind of fate. Even with the additional help of Hakuba, who was currently quite involved in the ongoing discussion, which Conan was listening to with half an ear, he was still at something of a disadvantage here. He didn't know how much Heiji's connections to otherworldly powers would aid him here, since he was doubtlessly making full use of them. Hakuba hadn't noticed it, but Conan had definitely noticed the faint traces on the edge of the full length mirror that had been in the woman's bedroom- definite signs that someone had rested their hands briefly left behind in the dust there.

He might not fully understand how that sort of thing worked, but his instincts told him that Heiji had already been here.

Still, the one fact that couldn't be argued here was that the culprit needed to be stopped. Even if he wasn't arrested by the police, justice would still be served- although frankly, he wasn't quite sure he _wanted_ to find out what it was that the fae queen considered justice. He knew that he would ask, in the end, if Heiji were the one to find him first, but given that in a sense, it was their people being killed, they had every right as a foreign monarch to demand their own justice.

When he thought about it that way, it was actually kind of easy to process. Granted, the whole notion behind the idea of changelings didn't rest easy with him- that was basically kidnapping. Heiji had told him before that the fae folk had their own moral code- but at the end of the day, Conan couldn't help but view it from his own. He was a human, after all.

That said, the victims had nothing to do with it. If they didn't even know they weren't human... the last few minutes of their lives must have been utterly terrifying.

"Well, Conan-kun? Do you want to come along with me?"

"Eh?" Blinking rapidly, realizing that he hadn't been listening as well as he thought he had, Conan looked up towards Hakuba, giving him something of a sheepish smile. "What is it, Hakuba-niichan? Go where? Did you figure something out?"

"A possible connection between the first victim and this victim, at the very least." Hakuba told him. "According to the event calendar on the victim's cellphone, she attended a public lecture a week and a half ago given by an professor from England. The first victim who was murdered four years ago was also one of his students at the time."

"I'm surprised you know something like that, Hakuba-niichan." Conan couldn't help but blink. "Have you always been interested in this case?"

"In a sense, it did happen in what's basically my backyard." Hakuba told him, before shaking his head. "But that's not the reason I know. I actually happen to know the professor in question. When I was in London, I would sometimes attend a few of his lectures. He's an expert on folklore."

"Folklore? I wouldn't have pictured you as the type to be interested in something like that." Conan couldn't help but note.

"While I don't believe any of it is true, Professor Clarke's lectures have nevertheless always been interesting to me. He's a friend of my father, on top of that." Hakuba noted. "I had heard that he had been traveling the country with a group of his students, exploring sites related to the folklore of Japan, while giving lectures to the public about English folklore. It would appear that would be the case. I'm sure he'd be more than willing to talk to me about the matter."

"You sound like you don't think he might be the culprit." Conan noted, frowning slightly. The fact that Hakuba was on good terms with this Professor was a bit concerning- he could only hope that such feelings wouldn't get in the way, if he really had something to do with the matter.

Although, given Hakuba's personality, he kind of doubted it.

"It's not impossible, but I can't help but think it's unlikely." Hakuba told him, shaking his head. "The Professor has been confined to a wheelchair ever since a young age. He can barely walk."

"I see. Since the victim was attacked in her room, the culprit would have had to walk up the set of stairs outside. For someone who can barely walk, that would be next to impossible." Conan observed. It would have been one thing if he had lost the use of his legs after the first set of murders- but given that he hadn't had the use of them since childhood, he probably wasn't the culprit. That didn't quite rule him out entirely, though- he might still be helping the culprit, and if, _ugh_ , magic really was involved, something like that might be able to do something about the condition of his legs. "Still, you're right. It's worth talking to him, to see if he remembers the victim."

"And if he can remember anything new about the victim from four years ago." Hakuba noted. "He always said she as a rather bright student, one who was very engaged in her research. I think he'd be quite willing to help us if we tell him that case might be starting again."

"Do you know where he's staying?" Conan asked. He would also have to look into where this Professor Clarke had already been- namely, if he had given any lectures in Osaka recently.

"I can contact the university that he usually lectures at, they might know his travel plans. Failing that, perhaps my father knows." Hakuba told him. "Perhaps it would be a good idea to question him once more about the other three victims while we're there. They weren't able to find a connection there last time, however..."

"It's worth asking about." Conan nodded, pulling out his cellphone, a bright smile crossing his face. "Then, just let me let Ran-neechan know, and I'll join you again in a minute, Hakuba-niichan."

Of course, the one that he was going to be contacting wasn't Ran, but rather, it would be Heiji. This was definitely information that he needed to know. The timing of the professor's lecture would have placed it after the fairy mirror had been stolen. If the professor or one of the students with him was involved, that would also explain why the case had suddenly jumped to Japan- if not why there was a four year gap between the fourth and fifth murder.

But that was _exactly_ what he was going to find out.


	18. In Which Hattori Heiji Picks a Fight With Hakuba Saguru (But What Else is New)

There were times when he couldn't help but wonder if his inherent bad luck was some form of generations of ancestral karma, coming back to haunt him.

This was one of them.

Really, _any_ time that the gods saw fit to have his path cross with that of Hakuba Saguru was an unlucky- and _annoying_ \- time indeed. Twice within one month was more than he wanted to deal with, especially since he had been doing such a good job thus far in avoiding him ever since their initial meeting. The fact that Conan was also with him managed to only take a slight edge off of the irritated feeling that was starting to bubble up in him.

Not to mention the fact that he had been trying to avoid investigating the case with Conan by his side. Running into him by coincidence like this... normally it would be something he would be happy about, but under these circumstances, he could only worry. The last thing he wanted was to have him end up being painted as a target based off of a misconception.

"It's rather good to see you again, Hattori-kun." Hakuba said. "Conan-kun here has been looking for you all day, ever since Inspector Megure told us you were investigating this case as well."

"Don't lie, yer not the least bit happy ta see me. The kid'll pick up some nasty habits from ya if ya keep that up." Quirking a brow, Heiji folded his arms in front of his chest, not even trying to disguise his long, exasperated sigh. "Well, I should have figured the guy from England would be interested in a case that started in England. I'm gonna take it ya came ta this place fer the same reasons that I have, then."

"That's right!" Piping in before things could get any more tense, Conan shot Heiji a warning look, silently advising him to not actively try and pick a fight, though he didn't know how much good it would do. People often observed that he and Heiji were polar opposites- but frankly, but when compared to _Hakuba_ and Heiji, who got along like oil and water, they were practically twins. "I'm glad that we ran into you, Heiji-niichan! I started to get worried about you when you weren't answering your phone."

"Ah, sorry, sorry." Although it took him a moment to determine what he was getting at- they had already met earlier in the afternoon, after all, Heiji quickly realized that Conan was hiding that fact. Rubbing the back of his neck, he flashed the shrunken detective an awkward smile. "I didn't have it turned on. Speakin' of which, I should probably really call Kazuha at some point..."

"It's alright, don't worry about it!" Conan told him, though he couldn't help but quirk a brow at his later comment. He seriously hadn't called her yet? Knowing Kazuha's personality as he did, there was no way that Heiji's phone wasn't filled with missed calls from her already- he really could be something of a scatterbrain at times.

Internally, he couldn't help but grin, unable to help but wonder if it was a symptom of old age. If he got the chance later, that was definitely going to be a jab he would remember to use. If Heiji was going to make fun of his _own_ current state, then his friend's _technical_ age was fair game, in so far as he was concerned.

"Then, since you're here, Hattori-kun, would you like to speak with Professor Clarke with us?" Hakuba inquired, unable to help but frown slightly. He couldn't help but wonder how it was that Heiji had managed to find his way here- had he already identified the victim on his own? If so, why hadn't he contacted the police with that information? He got the impression that he wasn't in contact with either Conan or the police currently, and while he supposed it was entirely possible that he might be able to find out this information on his own, it still struck him as a little odd.

Then again, ever since that case in the supposedly haunted house, he couldn't help but think that there was indeed, something _very odd_ about Hattori Heiji. He was almost certain that he had some kind of involvement in the strange events that had played out in that house- such as the disappearing crime scene, and perhaps even the destruction of said room once it just as mysteriously reappeared. When he had gone to ask him about it, he had brushed him off in the most unsubtle of manners, making it utterly clear to him that whatever had been going on there, not only did he have something to do with it, but also that he had no intention of telling him what it was.

And equally, he was almost entirely certain that Edogawa Conan had some idea of that very same secret- but he doubted he would have any luck prying it from him, either.

Not that this was his main cause of concern, not at the moment. As abrasive as Heiji's methods could be, it would be for the best if they had an extra mind working on this case- especially if it really was going to turn into a serial murder case, like he was expecting it would.

For now, the police were listening carefully to any missing persons reports cropping up in the area, to see if any more blank papers turned up- which he already knew would probably be followed shortly thereafter by another corpse. They couldn't release the information about the blank slips of paper the victims would receive in the mail, even though it might help save lives, on the off chance that people would start sending them as pranks, creating a panic.

"S'not like I have much of a choice." Heiji said with a slight shrug. He couldn't think of a reason not to, so he supposed that he would have to put up with Hakuba for the duration of an interview. At least Conan would be there with them- although judging from the expression on his face, he got the feeling that his friend was bracing himself for breaking up any fights that might break out between the mismatched pair.

Well, okay, _he'd_ be the one doing most of the fighting- but it wasn't like he could help it! That was just the way he was, and there was nothing wrong with. It was a lot better than how he had been in the past, though he kind of got the feeling that the two of them _still_ wouldn't have gotten along even when they were children- just for entirely different reasons.

"Then, let's not waste anymore time out here. I've got plenty of questions I'd like ta ask this Professor." Heiji said, glancing up towards the hotel where he had learned that the Professor in question, a man who went by the name of Gabriel Clarke, was staying with his students. Considering that when he looked into the Professor's lecture schedule, he had been in Osaka with his students just yesterday, the odds of them being involved in this somehow were rather high.

It would be nice if he would be able to tell which one of his students had the fairy mirror on them just by looking at them, but he doubted it would be that easy. It wasn't a cursed item, or something as obvious as that, after all. That was, if any of them were actually involved with this case, which was something that he hadn't quite decided on just yet- though he was leaning towards it. There were still plenty of unanswered questions.

"I'm certain that the professor will see us." Hakuba noted. "He's something of an acquaintance of mine."

"Of yers?" Heiji asked, quirking a brow. "I didn't think ya were the type ta be on good terms with someone who studies folklore, of all things." That was new information to him- although judging from the look that he caught Conan sending him out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd tried to contact him with this information already. Pulling out his phone to check on that, he grimaced as he noticed that he did, in fact, have a new missed call from Conan- and very quickly switched his phone from silent to vibrate.

"I respect Professor Clarke's research." Hakuba noted simply. "You don't need to believe in the supernatural to be interested in the roots of folk legends and folklore, Hattori-kun. Well," there was a faint smile that crossed his lips as he spoke, "...the Professor has always been somewhat under the impression that that sort of thing isn't all just fairy tales, but I suppose that's where the two of us have to disagree. Nevertheless, he's quite the intelligent man."

" _Heeh_. Well, if ya say so." Shrugging his shoulders, Heiji tucked his hands into his pockets, sparing a quick glance down towards Conan. It could be both frustrating and amusing to speak with someone who was so convinced that the supernatural wasn't real, and frankly, now more than ever, he was grateful for the fact that he had told Conan everything. If he hadn't...

Well, this would probably be a far more complicated case for him. Dealing with two skeptical fellow detectives was bad enough, but when one of them was someone who you considered a best friend and the other was someone that you really couldn't stand, it became even worse. Perhaps it was some strange form of good fortune that Conan had cornered him when he had, even if he hadn't thought of it as such at the time.

It was nice, not having secrets between the two of them.

Well, _mostly_.

"So? What's this Professor Clarke like?" Heiji asked, casting a glance over towards Hakuba. "Takin' yer students with ya on a speakin' tour of another country doesn't seem like the normal sort of thing teachers do."

"He's considered to be one of the foremost researchers in the field of folklore. At the very least, he is in England- I'm not sure about other countries." Hakuba noted, before continuing. "His personality can be somewhat eccentric at times, but as I mentioned before, he is a very intelligent man. I'm certain he would be more than willing to answer any questions that we might have to ask of him. He was quite distressed over the murder of his student, four years ago."

"Was he now?" Heiji asked, a slight frown crossing his face. "Did ya speak with him about it back then?"

"I did." Hakuba said, nodding his head. "Of course, I was only a middle school student at the time, so I wasn't properly working as a detective just yet. Still, the matter concerned me, so I did speak with him about it once before."

"Back then, did he mention anythin' strange ta ya?" Heiji asked. From the way he caught Conan's eyes narrowing out of the corner of his own, he knew his friend had caught on to what he was trying to ferret out- if this Professor Clarke perhaps had any idea about the _true_ nature of the murders. "Anythin' that seemed out of place?"

"Something out of place?" Merely arching a brow, wondering what had brought on the question, he shook his head. "Not that I can recall. He mostly just spoke about what a wonderful student the victim was, and how regrettable it was that she was killed in such a cruel, unnecessary way. Surely you're not under the impression that the _Professor_ could be the culprit, Hattori-kun. I can assure you, that's probably not the case."

"I didn't say that." Heiji said simply, shrugging his shoulders again. "I was just askin' if he said anythin' weird back then. But if ya say that he didn't, I guess I'll have ta take yer word fer it, Hakuba."

"Speaking of taking people at their word, Hattori-kun, I am a bit curious about how you managed to hear about this case before the news regarding it even broke." Hakuba couldn't help but note, his eyes slightly narrowing at the way Heiji flinched at his question. "I wouldn't have thought that information would have spread that quickly, even among the police. I can't deny that I'm also curious about how you know things about the previous case that were kept secret from the public by Scotland Yard as well."

"I have my sources." Heiji said simply, averting his eyes from him. Seriously, that was the reason why Hakuba being here was such a bother for him- because he was right. From an outsider's point of view, it was suspicious that he had not only gotten the information so quickly, but that he held some of the information at all. "It's not like it matters anyways. We're all workin' towards the same goal here, aren't we?"

Well, sort of.

"Heiji-niichan's right!" Conan chimed in, fearing that if this line of questioning continued, Heiji would say something that would be the rough verbal equivalent of shoving his foot in his mouth. "We're all working together on this, so something like that doesn't really matter."

"I suppose that is true." Hakuba noted, unable to help but notice the quick way that Conan had jumped in to defend his friend. There was definitely something going on here- and whatever it was, the Edogawa boy knew about it.

Still, whatever mysteries Hattori Heiji was concealing about himself, it would have to wait. Speaking to the professor and his students came first. Hopefully this wouldn't simply be a dead end- in a case like this, they couldn't afford to waste time.  
_________________________________________________________________

"Geez, when is that _idiot_ goin' ta get here?" Stretching herself out over the table that she had been sitting at for what felt like hours, Kazuha heaved a long sigh. Pulling out her phone once more, she half began to dial his number again- before heaving another sigh, canceling the call before it was even made. At this point, there was no point- if he hadn't picked up any of her previous calls, he probably wouldn't start doing so any time soon.

"Would you like something to drink while you wait, Toyama-san?" Turning her head slightly, Kazuha glanced up at the shikigami who had called out to her. Pushing herself up off the table, she shook her head, rising to her feet.

"No, I think I'm gonna go home fer now." Kazuha told them, giving the shikigami a small smile. "If that _idiot's_ just gonna keep me waitin', I might as well go back an' work on my homework fer now, an' come by again later. I don't suppose ya have any way of contactin' me when he gets here, do ya?"

"That could be arranged." With a nod of their head, the shikigami readily agreed. "Do you know how to get back home from here? We do believe the young master gave you a key to the place, but we could guide you if necessary."

"Yeah, he told me how it all works, don't worry." Kazuha told them, letting out a bit of a yawn. All that waiting had made her a bit tired, so maybe she would take a quick nap when she got home- there was still a bit of time before dinner. "Thanks anyway, though. Honestly, that Heiji could learn a thing or two about manners from ya, which is hilarious, seein' as he _made_ ya in the first place. He's always like this!"

"You may say that, Toyama-san, but we can't help but notice a rather fond tone to your voice anyways." With what almost felt like a hint of a smile, in spite of the mask, the shikigami was rather quick to respond. "We can see why he's rather fond of you as well."

"Eh?" Blinking a little, Kazuha's cheeks turned a faint shade of red. She'd heard them right, of that she was certain- but she was probably interpreting their words the wrong way. The two of them had always been together, ever since they were babies, through thick and thin- it was only natural that Heiji had fond feelings for her- but probably not anything more complex than those of friendship. "W-well, of course Heiji's a bit fond of me. We _are_ childhood friends, after all! An' just because he's a bit troublesome, it doesn't mean that I would dislike him just because of that!"

"Ah yes, of course." With a quick nod of their head, the shikigami almost seemed to bite back a comment. So it would seem as if it wasn't _only_ their young master who could be a bit oblivious when it came to romance- no wonder their relationship hadn't managed to progress any.

Goodness, goodness, what troublesome children.

"I understand, Toyama-san. In that case, we bid you a good evening, and we will contact you right away when the young master returns. Of course, we shall do it without letting him know about it."

"Thank ya, that's a big help!" With a quick bow, Kazuha attempted to conceal her still slightly flushed cheeks- what was she doing, getting all excited about something a shikigami was telling her? There was no way they had meant it like that! "Then, when that idiot comes back, let me know, an' I'll come right over so I can give him a piece of my mind about leavin' me in the dark about things."

"And we shall do our utmost best to ensure that you and the young master can have a proper discussion." With a bow of their own, the shikigami watched through their mask, as Kazuha accepted their words, and headed back through the door from which she had entered, returning to her own world.

"Goodness, goodness. The young master is going to be _quite_ furious with the lot of us when he comes home."  
_________________________________________________________________

"Why, why, if it isn't little Saguru!"

If he tried to claim that the snort that his two companions let out upon hearing those words didn't annoy him, he'd be lying. Still, Hakuba would never give either of them the satisfaction of reacting to it- especially not to the one who hadn't even tried to cover up his laughter. Apparently Heiji knew just enough English in order to understand that, he discovered to his great regret.

"It's been quite some time, Professor Clarke." Hakuba said, nevertheless smiling at the elderly man in the wheelchair who had greeted him. He had gotten a bit grayer since the last time he saw him, but otherwise seemed to be in good health- and thankfully, was more than willing to see him on such short notice, so late in the evening. "Not since three years ago, I believe."

"Yes, yes. You've grown up quite a bit since then, Saguru. You've gotten so tall!" With a smile, the professor spared a glance behind him, his brows furrowing slightly as he took notice of his other guests. "Are these two your friends, then?"

"Sure, sure, we're _real good_ friends with _little Saguru_ here!" With a broad grin, Heiji patted Hakuba on the shoulder, not even trying to mask the amusement in his eyes. Never in a million years was he ever going to let that go, he'd take it to his grave with him. "I'm Hattori Heiji, an' that's Edogawa Conan down there."

Clearing his throat, lightly brushing Heiji's hand of off his shoulder, Hakuba turned back to face the professor. The Osakan detective clearly wanted a reaction from him, and he wasn't by any means going to give one to him. To his great regret, Heiji appeared to speak far more English than he would have been willing to give him credit for. "I apologize for showing up unannounced so late in the evening, Professor Clarke. You must have been about ready to have dinner."

"No, it's quite alright." Shaking his head, the professor gave him another smile, deciding that it would be wise to switch to Japanese- they were in Japan, after all. "We just finished eating around thirty minutes ago, actually. But the three of you are welcome to join me in my room for some coffee. Although," pausing for a moment, his hands resting on his wheelchair as he glanced down at Conan. "...perhaps the child would prefer something a bit more sweet? Orange juice, perhaps?"

"I'm fine with coffee!" Conan chimed in. "I don't mind bitter things!"

"I'm just surprised mister prim an' proper over here doesn't mind." Heiji observed, quirking a brow. "I thought ya seemed like the type who insists on tea."

"Even _I_ don't mind the occasional pot of coffee, Hattori-kun." Hakuba said shortly, casting him a slight look. Was it just in his nature to try and pick fights with people, or was there something about him that was special? Whatever the case, he wasn't going to respond to it, no matter how much it seemed that Heiji wanted it. "We would enjoy that very much, Professor. Do pardon us for intruding."

"No, no, you shouldn't worry about a thing like that." Shaking his head, he turned his wheelchair around, rolling forward slightly. "I have a dreadful feeling that I know what you're here for as well. It's all the news stations have been covering here since this afternoon. Dreadful, dreadful."

"It's exactly as you suspect, Professor Clarke." Hakuba told him, his lips twisting in a tight frown. So he wasn't the only one who had been reminded of those cases upon seeing the news report. "We have reason to believe that the victim this time attended one of your lectures a week and a half ago. And given that the first victim of the series of murders from four years ago was one of your students..."

"I see." Closing his eyes, a rather grim expression settled over the man's face. "Very well. Let's retreat to my room, where we can discuss things in a more private space. But first..." Trailing off, he turned his head to the side, towards the kitchen area. "Sienna! Pardon me, but do you think you can prepare coffee for me and my three guests?"

In response to his words, a young woman poked her head out of the kitchen, a slight frown on her face as she cast a glance towards the somewhat mismatched trio of guests. Still, she nevertheless responded to the professor's request, her red curls bobbing up and down as she nodded her head. "Ah, yes! I'll prepare it right away. Would you like it fixed the usual way?"

"Yes, that would be lovely." With a nod of his head, the professor watched her retreat back into the kitchen, before turning his attention back towards his guests. "Sienna Radcliff, one of the four students I brought here with me. She just joined us this year, but she makes a simply superb pot of coffee. A quick thinker too, that one. Quite clever, quite clever."

"Now, if you three will follow me to my room. I'm afraid it's a bit of a mess, for which I must apologize for." Rolling on ahead, the elderly man opened up the door to his room, before allowing the other three to enter behind him. With a slight glance outside the room, he closed the door. "Now then, please make yourselves at home. Feel free to move anything that's preventing you from sitting down."

"This is an amazin' amount of mess ta make in just one day." Heiji couldn't help but observe, glancing around the room. Scooping up a stack of books that had been set on the couch, he couldn't help but cast a curious glance towards them as he set them aside. He didn't have a bad selection of reading materials, this professor- some of the research contained within those books was actually legit.

"Ah, we're actually using this hotel suite as our main base of operations, you could say. So I can assure you, this is around two weeks worth of mess, not just one day. Even I might have trouble with that." He added with a slight chuckle. "It was Hattori-kun, wasn't it?" The professor asked, casting a glance over towards him, a slight frown crossing his face. Pausing to adjust his glasses, his eyes narrowed a bit more, before another smile spread out across his face. "I must say, you have _quite_ the unusual aura. I've never seen anything quite like it before."

"Ah... is that so?" Blinking a little, Heiji rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a bit of a nervous laugh as he took a seat. This old man was pretty legit after all, if he could tell that much- he didn't think that he was making that up. Even normal humans could begin to slightly change after being exposed to things from the other side of the veil for so long- as this man clearly had. "Thanks, I guess?"

Catching the curious look that Conan sent him as he took a seat on the couch next to him, Heiji merely gave him a small shrug of his shoulders. Returning the gesture, Conan reached into his pocket, pulling out his cellphone and bringing up a photo that he had taken at the victim's apartment. "Is there any chance that you recognize this woman, Professor Clarke? Her name is Takahira Naoko."

"Takahira..." Trailing off a little, the professor picked up the cellphone, studying the picture with interest. "Ah, yes, I do believe I know her somewhat. She came to see me after one of my lectures, to ask me a few additional questions. Is she perhaps...?"

"Yes. She's the victim in this case." Hakuba told him, giving him a curt nod of his head. "What kind of questions did she ask you?"

"An' were any of yer students around when was doin' that?" Heiji added, leaning back on the couch. Narrowing his eyes, he tried to cast out a sensory net, hoping that he might be able to pick up on anything in this hotel suite. He didn't miss the slight frown his actions earned from the professor, the old man clearly having picked up on _something_ having changed, though being unsure as to _what_. It was no good though- he couldn't sense anything. If one of them really had it, they probably hadn't brought it back here.

"I see. That's quite the shame." Passing the cellphone back to Conan, a rather serious expression crossed the professor's face. "She wanted to know more about the subject that I was discussing in my lecture. I believe the subject of that one was what you Japanese would refer to as being spirited away. I was discussing the presence of such stories throughout both English and Japanese culture. She was quite curious about the subject, especially as it pertains to myths in England."

In the back of his mind, Heiji couldn't help but take note of this information- so perhaps the victim this time around might have had some faint idea that she wasn't human. He didn't think it was overall related to the case, as she probably would have become a target anyways, but it was interesting to note.

"And yes, my students were with me at the time, of course." Nodding his head, he spared a glance over towards Heiji, a considering look on his face. "Why do you ask that, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Hattori-kun here seems to be under the impression that one of your students might be the culprit." Hakuba spoke up, cutting off anything that Heiji might have wanted to say, an action that earned him a rather fierce glower. "I don't believe that you would let any such a person with you on this trip myself."

"Well, I'm afraid I wouldn't be so quick to say that. I trust my students, however, human nature is rather complicated, little Saguru." The professor said simply, shaking his head. "People who on the surface seem as if they are good people, might actually be hiding a terrible darkness inside of them. Of course, the reverse can also be true. I would think that you of all people, would know that better than anyone, given the reputation that you've been earning yourself these days. A high school detective, is it?"

"I understand that." Allowing a faint sigh to escape from his lips, Hakuba merely nodded his head. He certainly had a point. "In that case, would it be possible for us to speak with your students as well?"

"Of course, that's no problem." Nodding his head just as the door opened, the professor glanced in that direction. "Ah, Sienna, perfect timing. If it's not a bother to you, do you think you could gather the others? Of course, once you've put down the coffee."

"Ah yes, that's not a problem." With a quick nod of her head, Sienna made her way into the room, carefully balancing a tray of coffee in her hands. Letting out a slight breath as she set it down without any problems, she carefully set a coffee cup in front of everyone, pausing to glance at Conan with a small frown as she did so. "I'll go and tell the others."

"Then, thank you." With a firm nod of his head, the professor watched her until she left the room, before turning towards his three guests, giving them a polite smile. "Then, until they come, why not tell me a little bit more about your friends, little Saguru? Is this one," his gaze flickered over towards Heiji, another slight frown gracing his features as he did so, "...also a high school detective, like you?"

Still internally twitching about Heiji being so casually referred to as his _friend_ , Hakuba nevertheless nodded his head. The professor didn't mean anything by it, of that he was sure. "Yes, that's correct. He's rather famous in the Kansai area, I believe. His father is the head of the Osaka Prefecture's police force. As for Edogawa-kun here... he's a rather bright young boy in his own right. He lives with Mouri Kogoro, a private detective who has become somewhat famous around these parts."

"Ah, the Sleeping Kogoro. I've heard of him once or twice, since I've arrived here." Fixing his gaze on Conan, he watched as he picked up the coffee cup, his contemplative frown returning. "You certainly have found yourself an interesting pair of friends, little Saguru. Still, if this case really is related to those from before, I would advise you to be careful. This isn't a normal case."

"Eh?" With a slight frown, Hakuba peered across the table towards the elderly man. "Is there something you know about it, Professor Clarke?"

With a slight pause, the professor's gaze once more flickered between Heiji and Hakuba, a slight expression of confusion crossing his features, before he finally smiled, shaking his head. "No. You could just call it an old man's intuition. For someone to do such a thing to a lovely young lady... there must be a deep, deep darkness indeed within their hearts. When dealing with such a thing, it's always wise to proceed with caution."

"In that case, Hattori-kun here is probably the one you should be the most worried about." Hakuba couldn't help but observe, picking up his coffee cup, taking a short sip out of it. He did prefer tea, but it was rather rude not to accept what your host offered you, so he would put up with it for now. "What was the word used for you before, back on that island? _Hotblooded_ , I believe it was."

"What's that supposed ta mean?" Heiji couldn't help but grumble. Honestly, out of everyone here, he was the one who was the _most_ qualified to deal with this matter- as always, that Hakuba sure had some nerve. Besides, unlike the other two, he _had_ to solve this case, as quickly as possible- and not just because of his promise with the fae queen. "Ya make it sound like ya think I'm gonna rush in just ta get myself killed."

"It means Hakuba-niichan is worried that you'll try and do something reckless on your own, Heiji-niichan, that's all." Conan helpfully supplied, taking the chance to level a warning gaze towards his friend- _another_ one, he noted to his great annoyance. Whatever he might be, it didn't change the fact that he didn't like the idea of Heiji throwing himself in danger, especially not since he had already been marked by the target. "He's just saying that because he's worried about you."

"Yes." With a slight smile, one that wasn't quite echoed in his eyes, Hakuba turned his full attention towards Heiji. "That's exactly what I mean."

"Oh? I get the feelin' that there's somethin' else that ya wanna say ta me, Hakuba." Quirking a brow, Heiji shot him a challenging look. He was right- he really couldn't stand this guy. "Ya wanna go ahead an' just spit it out already?"

"Now, now, there's no need for the two of you to fight." Quickly interjecting before the situation could heat up any further, Conan cleared his throat, shooting the burnt of his glare towards Heiji. "After all, we still have to talk to Professor Clarke's students, right?"

"Ahh, that's right." Leaning back on the couch again, Heiji let out a long sigh- one that he had to cut short, a frown crossing his features. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cellphone, brows furrowing together as he brought up the message that he had been sent. "Well, it looks like I'll have ta leave askin' 'em questions ta the two of ya. Somethin' came up on my end, so I have ta go."

"Something...?" Hakuba trailed off a little, frowning somewhat as he produced his own cellphone. He had gotten no such message from the police himself, so perhaps it wasn't anything directly related to the case. Still, that was odd- hadn't Conan told him earlier that the reason he couldn't get in touch with Heiji was because his phone was off?

He must have turned it back on at some point, otherwise that wouldn't make any sense. Not that _much_ was making sense in regards to Hattori Heiji lately.

"Then, I'll call you about everything later, Heiji-niichan!" Conan told him, covering his true expression with one of childish innocence. He hadn't missed Heiji's choice of words- that something had come up on _his_ end. To Hakuba, those words probably wouldn't mean anything, but to Conan, the meaning was perfectly clear.

Had another corpse turned up? Or had something else happened? What sources was he getting his information from anyways? Even if he asked him, he doubted that Heiji would tell him, especially not with Hakuba and Professor Clarke present.

"Oh thanks, Conan-kun! That's a great help!" Flashing him a quick grin, Heiji reached down to ruffle his hair, once more ignoring his protests. Picking up his cup of coffee, he downed the whole thing, before getting to his feet. "Well then, I'll take my leave early. It was nice ta meet ya, Professor. Maybe the two of us can talk a bit more in depth about the case later."

If this old man really did have some kind of idea about the real nature of the case, he might be quite useful to him after all.

"Of course. You're welcome to come by anytime, Hattori-kun." With a soft smile, the professor merely picked up his own cup of coffee, masking whatever he was thinking behind that expression. "I'd be more than happy to tell you anything that you need."

"Then, maybe I'll take ya up on that offer. Well then, I'm off!" With a wave of his hand, Heiji made his way towards the door, leaving the room just as what he assumed were the professor's students entered into it. He cast a brief look back towards them as he left, long enough to memorize most of their features, but not nearly long enough to pick up if there was anything strange about them.

For now, that was a matter that he would have to leave to Conan. Even if he didn't know all of the right questions to ask this time, he didn't doubt that his friend wouldn't let him down. He got the strong feeling that at least one of them was involved with this case. Call it intuition or whatever, but he didn't think he was wrong.

But for the moment, he needed to follow the other lead that he had gotten. A second victim had shown up- and right now, he had the chance to check out the scene even before the police arrived. He had to head there quickly, before someone other than his contact found the body. The less the police were involved in this case, the better- especially because it might end without a culprit for them to even arrest.

Not to mention what a nightmare it would be for him if this case managed to cause the masquerade to collapse. He'd be the one left up to pick up the pieces- and he liked living as a normal human, now that he had finally gotten the hang of it- he didn't want to ruin that. Still, if it seemed as if no one was going to find the body on their own, at the very least, he would help guide them to it- if he didn't do that, then there was a chance that the victim might never be found, and their family might never have anything to bury.

Either way, it seemed like he was going to have a busy night.  
____________________________________________________________________

"Eh? So Hattori-kun ran off on another case without you again?"

"Right, right. Can ya believe that, Ran-chan?" Heaving a long sigh, Kazuha slumped back in her chair. "An' what's more, the case is apparently in Tokyo. He could have taken me along if he was goin' ta come see all of you!"

"Eh? Hattori-kun's in Tokyo?" Ran's surprise came through loud and clear over the phone, and it was enough to cause Kazuha to sit up straight again, a frown crossing her features. "That's odd, I haven't heard anything from him today. I know Conan-kun is out with Hakuba-kun, but he didn't mention anything about Hattori-kun. Are you sure he's in Tokyo, Kazuha-chan?"

"Well, that's what I was told." With a slight frown, Kazuha put a hand to her chin, her brows furrowing together. "That's odd... I thought fer sure he would have contacted either you or Conan-kun. Have you really heard nothin'?"

"No, I haven't." Shaking her head, Ran could only frown. "There's certainly a big stir going on over here about a body that was found, but I haven't heard anything about Hattori-kun. My father just left to head to the police station to talk with them about it, actually. It's pretty freaky."

"Freaky?" Kazuha asked, her words more than perking her interest. A freaky case... the odds of Heiji investigating something like that were pretty high, especially given what she knew of him now. "How so, Ran-chan?"

"Ah, well..." Trailing off a little, almost wondering if she should tell her friend this, Ran couldn't help but recall the shiver that she had felt down her spine when she had watched the news report. "A woman's corpse washed up on the banks of the river. It seems as if she had her face melted off by something, after being killed."

"What's with that? That's super freaky!" Unable to help herself, Kazuha sprung to her feet at her friend's words. "Are ya tellin' me that there's a chance that Heiji is stickin' his nose into somethin' like that? By _himself_? Honestly, what is that _idiot_ thinkin'?"

"It could just be a coincidence." Ran said quickly. "Hattori-kun might be working on another case here. Otherwise I'm sure he would have run into Conan-kun and Hakuba-kun by now."

"I guess yer right, but..." Trailing off a little, Kazuha's brows furrowed. Her instincts told her that had to be the case that Heiji was working on right now- and that there was probably a reason as to why he hadn't contacted either Conan or Ran about it. If that was the case, then could that case really be...?

A cold shiver ran down her spine as she dwelt on that for a moment, feeling it more imperative than ever that she got into contact with Heiji. He might have acted like it was no big deal, but she couldn't help but worry about him. How was she supposed to not to? From the sound of it, there were some incidents in the past where he had put his life on the line just to fulfill this supposed duty of his. She really didn't know how she felt about it, but she was leaning towards not liking it one bit.

"Maybe ya should really call Conan-kun an' get him ta come home already, Ran-chan. I don't think a kid should be pokin' his nose into a case like that." Kazuha told her. Especially not when it might involve something that wasn't human- a skeptical child like Conan was practically walking bait for that sort of thing!

"That's what I told him, but he won't listen." Ran huffed. "Well, Hakuba-kun is with him, and I doubt he'll let him out of his sight, so I'm not too worried. He promised to come back home for dinner, after all. Well, if he's not back by then, I'll go out and make him come home myself."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." With a quick nod of her head, Kazuha decided it would be for the best that she not tell Ran that there might be something otherworldly involved in this case. She was certain that her friend would believe her, but she didn't want to give her any reason to be afraid. Ran was even worse with things like ghosts and monsters than she was.

With made it all the more touching, really, that she had so easily accepted what she had told her about Heiji's childhood. Surely if they had known Ran when they were children, then...

Well, there was nothing that she could do to change the past- making the best of the future was what Heiji had decided to do, and was what she had concluded was for the best. If she never had to see those kinds of expressions on his face ever again, it would be too soon.

"Then, I have to finish getting dinner ready, so I have to go, Kazuha-chan." Ran told her. "But I'll give you a call if Hattori-kun comes by, or calls me. I'm sure he's fine, though. He _can_ be a little forgetful, after all."

"Yeah, thanks, Ran-chan. I'll talk ta ya again later." With a quick smile, Kazuha pulled her cellphone away from her ear, watching as the call hung up. Bringing up her own call log, she allowed a faint sigh to escape her, seeing that there were still no calls from Heiji.

Honestly, that _idiot_ \- didn't he know how worried she got about him?

"Kazuha!" The sound of her mother's voice, coming from the front of the house, cut off any further grumbling that she wanted to do, drawing her attention away for the moment. "There's a letter for you!"


	19. There Are Things in This World That People Don't Need to Know

"I don't suppose ya can use those demons ya summon ta pinpoint the location of what I'm actually lookin' fer, can ya?" Sparing the witch next to him only the smallest of glances, Heiji couldn't keep the rather grim expression off of his face. How could he, in light of what was in front of him now? He had seen quite a number of corpses in awful looking conditions in his time, but this one was by far, one of the worst.

And that _included_ the man so badly burned that nobody could recognize any of his features.

"You of all people should know that it's not that simple, Hattori-kun." Akako noted. If she was fazed by the sight before her any, she wasn't showing it on her face, remaining as composed as always. "A witch's magic cannot find things of fae origin. At the very least, not while said things of fae origin are _alive_."

"So in other words, if I wanted ta ask ya ta look fer the rest of the future victims, I'm outta luck, huh?" Finally looking directly at her, Heiji heaved a long sigh. "Well, if it was that easy, I would have been able ta solve this case even before the first victim showed up. Guess I just have ta do this the old-fashioned way then."

"Speaking of _old-fashioned_ , I hear that Hakuba-kun is looking into the matter as well." Akako noted, returning his gaze, leveling her own with his. "Play nice with him, Hattori-kun. He's unaccustomed to creatures of your nature."

"I _always_ play nice!" Placing a hand against his chest, an expression of mock offense crossing his face, Heiji broke out into a broad grin, in spite of the grisly visage that was the murder victim. "It's really a matter of whether or not he's gonna play nice with _me_ , ya know. I bet that guy still thinks I'm some kind of liability at crime scenes."

"Coming from the one who asked me to notify him if I locate any of the victims of the serial murderer before the police find out about them, I wouldn't say he's entirely off the mark." Akako told him simply, giving him a small shrug of her shoulders. "That said, I've done what I've come here for. What do you plan on doing?"

"Look over the scene, of course. Gather clues. That's what a detective does." Heiji noted, observing his surroundings. With the body having been discarded in an out of the way place like this- in a dense thicket of trees, far away from any main roads, it was probably going to be awhile before anyone found it. Not too many people would have a reason for coming in here. If that was the case, then he might have to do something about that himself before he moved on from here.

As much as he wanted the police to stay out of this case as much as possible, he couldn't have that. It would be unfair to Kudo, of course, but the one it would be the most unfair to was the victim. He didn't know anything about her yet, but this woman's family and friends deserved some form of closure, even if it was only the quick discovery of her corpse. He couldn't just let the body remain here, undiscovered, for who knows how long.

"Ah, yes. I suppose you are that, on occasion." Akako noted, before turning on her heel, brushing a few strands of hair back over her shoulder. "Well, if you need anything further, you unfortunately know my number. Naturally, I'll be asking for a favor from you in the future in return."

"What, yer not just doin' this in honor of our deep friendship?" The sarcasm was clear as day on his voice, practically dripping from his tone. "What a shame. I thought we were a little closer than that, Koizumi."

"I regret to inform you that I have no interest in befriending the descendant of someone whose ancestors nearly drove mine to extinction." Akako noted, before pausing, casting a glance back towards him. "Rather ironic how that all worked out for them, isn't it, mister last of his kind?"

"Yes, yes, I've got generations upon generations of familial sin, thanks fer remindin' me." Shooting her a slight glower, even though he had to admit that was pretty fair, Heiji fixed his attention once more back on the corpse. Like the other, her face had been rendered featureless with some kind of strong acid, bone clearly showing through where her face had once been. Judging from the scene, the culprit had waited until they had planted her body here to do that deed- although judging from the lack of blood around where she had been found, she probably hadn't been killed here.

Still, it looked like identifying the victim might be a bit easier than last time. Judging from her clothes, she was probably employed in some kind of medical field- and judging from the fact that she hadn't changed out of her medical scrubs yet, it was possible that she had gone missing in the middle of her shift, especially given her lack of shoes. When he checked the back of her head, there were traces that she had been hit by something heavy- it wasn't the cause of death, that was still a knife wound, just like the last time. She had probably been knocked out and transported here, probably by car.

Said car might also be the real site of the murder.

Based on the estimated time of death, she had probably been working some kind of night shift, something which narrowed down the number of places that he would need to check. From the small bit of her facial features that remained, the edge of an eyebrow, he could tell that she probably had dyed her hair that red color- someone like that would probably stand out in people's memories, and make finding out who she was even easier.

Of course, he'd be sure to erase any traces of his presence afterwards. If the police found out that he had been asking questions about the woman's identity before they had even found the body, there would only be trouble. He felt a bit bad about it, but given how pressing a matter solving this case was for him, he couldn't afford to waste his time. If he had a chance to get a step ahead of the police, then he would gladly take it.

It would be bad if they ended up catching the culprit themselves, and learned what the motive was. Although he was sure that they would dismiss it as the ramblings of someone who didn't quite have it all together, there was always the chance that such information could leak out to the media- and if something like that happened, things would become difficult for awhile. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be too concerned- he knew from his own experience that people tended to forget things like that after awhile.

But considering that he didn't have the slightest idea as to what the motive of the black market broker who had allowed the culprit to obtain the fairy's mirror in the first place was, he didn't want to take that chance. If by any chance, their motive was to destroy what he worked to protect- the masquerade that divided the two worlds, then things would get very bad, very quickly.

He couldn't afford to let the boundary between the two worlds collapse- it existed for a reason. Even worse, it would put those who had come to this world from the spirit world, and had been living here peacefully into jeopardy- of course, himself included.

And he had no illusions as to how quickly certain things about his past would be dug up if something like that happened. What a huge scandal that would be- the only son of the chief of Osaka's police being something other than human would probably become an overnight sensation, even if they didn't have any real proof. There was nothing that people liked more than a good piece of gossip, and he knew full well that his own personal history didn't really lend itself all that well to convincing anyone otherwise.

If that accident from fifth grade went public, followed by the matter of his half year disappearance the following year, things would get rather troublesome for him, very quickly. And that wasn't even touching on the fact that the culprit this time seemed to have it in for him. He didn't doubt that they would try and deliver on their promised threat- but that wasn't what he was concerned about.

As long as _she_ didn't get a letter, it would probably be fine. Just because they knew who he was, didn't mean that they had been looking at those around him all that closely yet. He had left her behind in Osaka, without a word, for that very reason.

And if she did... there was no way he could ever let her learn what the culprit's motive was. There was no need for her to know something like that. To him, it wasn't a fact that changed anything, but he already knew that she wouldn't feel the same way- and that it would be a weight that would hang over her for probably the rest of her life.

"Honestly, what a bothersome case." Heaving a long sigh, Heiji cast a last glance towards the corpse. Another woman, he couldn't help but note- come to think of it, all of the previous victims had been women as well. As far as he knew, he was the only exception- and when he considered the chance that he might have been suggested to the culprit by that black market broker in the first place, it was possible that _he_ was the anomaly here.

Not only did they have a grudge against changelings, but it appeared that their grudge only extended to females. It wasn't much of a clue, not with nothing else to go on, but perhaps it would help him narrow a few things down in the future.

For the moment, he would have to bring someone's attention to the corpse. Rubbing the back of his neck, Heiji turned to glance behind him. Calling Kudo about it would be the easiest way, but might raise a few questions somewhere down the road that would be awkward for him to answer. It would be a lot better if someone completely unrelated to the case found the body first.

"Can't be helped. Guess I'll do _that_ , then."

* * *

"And? Have you identified the victim yet?"

"No, not just yet. However, given the way she's dressed, we've sent people asking around at local clinics to see if any of their staff went missing last night." Glancing down at his police notebook, Wataru Takagi couldn't help but frown a little, wondering if it really was okay to show Conan a body like this. Granted, he wasn't even blinking at it, but that in itself was a bit concerning, really.

"It seems as if the manner of death is the same as in the previous case." Hakuba noted, sparing the police detective behind him a glance. Rising to his feet, he carefully pulled off the gloves that he had brought with him, tucking them away in his pocket. "Do we know if the knife used this time is the same one as in the previous case?"

"According forensics, the odds are rather high." Takagi noted. "The size and shape of the stab wounds match up almost perfectly. Of course, we haven't been able to locate the murder weapon either, but judging from the lack of blood at the scene, it's possible that she wasn't killed here."

"In other words, they only just dumped her body here." Placing a hand to his chin in thought, Conan's brows furrowed in thought. "She was probably abducted and then killed somewhere else. Perhaps in a car. What's her estimated time of death?"

"Ah, yes. Most likely it's somewhere between twelve and two, early this morning." Takagi noted. "Of course, if she really did go missing from work, there's a chance that we might be able to narrow down her time of death even further, but it does appear that she was killed after the first victim was."

"Two in one night. Our culprit's been rather busy." Hakuba noted, sparing a quick glance down towards Conan. It seemed as if there was something else on his mind- and vaguely, he couldn't help but wonder why it was the child hadn't attempted to contact Heiji about this new victim yet.

Perhaps he merely hadn't gotten around to it just yet.

"How was the body found?" Conan asked, glancing back up towards Takagi, a tight frown still on his face. Recalling the phone call that Heiji had taken around three hours ago now, that left him passing the job of interviewing Professor Clarke's students off to the two of them, he couldn't help but wonder if it really had been about this after all. Under ordinary circumstances, he couldn't imagine that Heiji wouldn't alert the police about the corpse, but these _weren't_ ordinary circumstances.

"Ah, yes." Glancing back down at his police notebook again, Takagi quickly scanned the information that was written there. "It was discovered by a salaryman around an hour ago. While on his way home, he claims to have spotted a dog with a collar and no owner, so under the impression that it was someone's pet who had run away, he attempted to catch it. He ended up chasing it here, and discovered the body."

"A dog?" Blinking a little, Conan cast a glance towards the ground. Now that he brought it up, there were dog footprints just skirting around the very edge of the crime scene- he hadn't made much of it at the time, though. "Where is that dog now?"

"Who knows? Once the man found the body, he pretty much forgot about the dog." Takagi told him. "We did make a note of it though, in case anyone reports a missing dog in the area, but well... that sort of thing is hardly the work of division one. Probably a bit more of a case for the Detective Boys, really."

"Ah, that's true." Giving him a quick smile, Conan couldn't shake a strange feeling that explanation had given him. For a moment, he couldn't place what the source of it was, until he found himself thinking back, recalling something that he had all but half forgotten.

_"What would you have preferred for me to ask, for you to shapeshift into a dog or something?"_

If that was the case, then it was no wonder the dog had not only lead someone to a corpse, but had also quickly vanished afterwards. Eye twitching a little at the conclusion that he had drawn, knowing that odds were, he had picked that exact method just to let him know that he had gotten here before him, Conan couldn't help but think that he was going to have some serious words for Heiji the next time that he ran into him.

Well, at the very least, he had been kind enough to lead the police to a body that they might have otherwise not found for quite some time, given how out of the way it's location was. Compared to the previous victim, it would have taken quite some time to find this one- perhaps that was the idea, even.

Still, to think that he might really be able to do something like that... no, no, wasn't he actually jumping to that conclusion way too quickly? Just because he had _said_ that he could do it before, didn't actually mean... Heaving a long sigh, Conan decided that it was probably for the best if he just gave up on that line of thought. The less effort he put into trying to understand that sort of thing, the better- he would never get anywhere, and it would only make him needlessly frustrated, especially when it wasn't even remotely close to what he needed to focus on right now.

Honestly, what a troublesome person his new best friend had turned out to be. That said, he couldn't say that he really minded- in a way, it actually served to make his life more interesting.

* * *

"Ah, Hattori-kun!"

From Kazuha's phone call, she knew full well that he was probably in Tokyo right now, but she almost hadn't expected to see him show up at their apartment- especially not this late at night, right when they were all about to go to bed. It hadn't been that long since Conan had finally returned home, delivered there by a rather stern Hakuba, who claimed that while he certainly appreciated his help earlier in the day, now was the time for children to be getting to sleep- especially ones who had school the following day.

Although he had been rather grumpy about the whole thing, once he realized that there was no escape, Conan had resigned himself to going to sleep for the night. Honestly, she had half a mind to give him a lecture for even trying to get himself involved with a case like that- and Hakuba too, for that matter! He might be smart, but a child was a child, and there were some things that they just shouldn't see.

"Yo, Neechan. Sorry ta disturb ya so late. Is that boy in?" Heiji asked, flashing her a broad grin as he peered behind her, trying to catch any sign of the shrunken detective lingering around her feet.

"Yes, Conan-kun's here." Ran told him, briefly nodding her head. "Don't tell me you want him to discuss that dreadful case though? If that's what you want him for, I'm not going to tell him you're here."

"Aw, c'mon, don't be that way, Neechan." Well, it wasn't that he couldn't understand her worries, really. He would probably think the same if he thought that Edogawa Conan was a real child. "Besides, ya know even if ya try an' keep him away from it, he'll probably try an' investigate the case on his own anyways. If that's the case, isn't it better that he's with someone who can keep an eye on him?"

"...When you put it like that, you've got a point." Ran admitted after a moment, her frown not quite fading yet. "Although I thought he was investigating the case with Hakuba-kun today, not you. He was the one who brought him home, after all."

"Well, we kinda split up ta cover more ground, ya could say. Can I come in?" Heiji asked, tucking his hands into his pockets. "I promise I won't stay all that long. There's just a few things I want ta bounce off of him."

"Eh? You're not going to stay over?" Now frowning for different reasons, Ran nevertheless took a step away from the door, allowing Heiji to enter the apartment. "You know you're welcome here anytime, Hattori-kun."

"It's fine, it's fine. I've already got somewhere else ta stay fer the night." Heiji told her. There was no way he was going to impose on them, not when someone was after his life- the last thing he wanted to do was draw people into his own problems. "Ya don't have ta worry about me, Neechan."

"That's too bad. I know that Conan-kun enjoys it when you sleep over." A slight frown still gracing her features for a moment longer, Ran quickly shook it off, giving him a smile instead. "Then, I'll go ahead and get him, Hattori-kun. But don't keep him up too late, okay? And make sure to remind him to lock the door when you leave."

"Sure, no problem! Are ya goin' ta bed yerself already?" Heiji asked, tilting his head. He'd picked up so much residual magic from the two crime scenes that he was practically _buzzing_ with energy- he'd used quite a bit of it earlier, but it was nowhere near enough. He would have to find a way to deal with the excess he had taken in before it turned into another poltergeist event- even if he knew what caused them now, it was still a pain cleaning up after them.

"Yes, I am. Sorry that I can't offer you tea or anything." Ran told him, letting out a small yawn. "Come by tomorrow after school, and I'll make it up to you."

"No, no, ya don't need ta do somethin' like that." Heiji said, waving a hand. "I'm probably gonna be busy then anyways."

"Ah, I suppose that's true." With a slight laugh, Ran turned slightly on her heel, before pausing, casting a slight glance back towards him. In a way, it was almost a bit strange to interact with him now that she knew what he was hiding. He seemed no different from the usual Heiji, and although it was only natural that was the case, she had almost expected to see more obvious signs of well... his rather _unique_ talents.

He had probably just gotten quite good at hiding them over the years. It must have been hard, having to deal with all of that. She really didn't envy him, being able to see things like that. Rather, she was just amazed that he still wanted to be a detective, even with that kind of ability.

Or rather, perhaps that was why he wanted to become one? Come to think of it, in spite of regarding him as a friend, she actually didn't know Heiji all that well.

"What's wrong, Neechan? Somethin' on my face?" Tilting his head a little, Heiji cast a rather curious look back towards her.

"Ah, no, it's nothing, Hattori-kun." Quickly shaking her head, Ran flashed him a smile. "I'll go get Conan-kun. Wait just a second, okay?"

After all, she didn't want him to know that Kazuha had told her something that was supposed to be a secret. She didn't think that Heiji would get mad at her, but she didn't want to cause strife between those two- especially not when it felt like they were _this close_ to finally confessing to each other.

* * *

"So? What is it that you want from me so late at night, Hattori?"

"So cold, Kudo!" Placing a hand over his heart, Heiji cast a glance down towards his shrunken friend. In order to speak in private, the two of them had gone downstairs, lingering just outside the door of the detective agency. "You were the one who said that I could ask ya about yet little chat with the Professor's students later."

"I suppose I did say something like that." Conan admitted, before casting a skeptical glance up towards him. "But I thought you were going to ask me about it at a more reasonable time. I was about to fall asleep when Ran came and got me, you know."

"I guess ya got the bedtime of a kid too, huh?" Heiji couldn't help but joke, unable to help laughing at the glare his small friend shot towards him. "Now, now, don't look at me that way. After all, I helped ya out earlier, didn't I?"

"So that really was _you_." Heaving a long sigh, Conan folded his arms in front of his chest, closing his eyes. "You could have picked a more _normal_ way, you know. Whatever happened to leaving an anonymous tip?"

"If I did somethin' like that, the police might think that it was the culprit callin', an' the investigation would have just gotten mixed up because of that." Heiji noted, tucking his hands into his pockets. "An' if I tried ta pose as the one who found the body, then I couldn't exactly have the time ta ask around about the victim's identity. There's no point ta findin' the body first if I can't use it ta my advantage."

"Should I ask how you came across it in the first place, Hattori?" Opening his eyes, Conan spared him a look, his expression turning rather stern. "Now that I think about it, you never told me how you learned about the first murder either. The news about it didn't break until the afternoon, well after school let out, and there's no way even your father could have heard about it that quickly."

"What, is that suspicion that I hear in yer voice?" Heiji asked, his grin still not fading. "I asked Koizumi awhile ago ta let me know if she noticed anythin' strange. There's a certain amount of magical discharge when somethin' like a changeling is killed, so she was able ta pick up on it right away. Ah, but if yer askin' me if she can find the fairy's mirror or the culprit's next victims, I'm afraid that's impossible."

"I see." Conan said simply, letting out another sigh. "Sorry, Hattori. It's not that I'm suspicious of you or anything. It's just that I can't help but be conscious about what you're doing _wrong_ , from the human standpoint at least." It felt like a rather strange statement on his lips- even with all that he had seen thus far, the notion that Heiji wasn't human still seemed rather distant from him. "You erased their memories too, didn't you? The people you asked questions to, while you were searching for the identity of the victim."

"Yeah." Nodding his head, Heiji's smile only faltered a little, slightly impressed that he had managed to come to that conclusion so easily- as well as his previous one. For as much as he said that he hated it, it would seem that he still factored away everything he had to tell him about magic, just like he did with everything else he learned. "I did. It would be a problem if the police realized that I had been askin' around before they even found the body. Well, although I don't think they'd ever do somethin' like accuse _me_ of being the murderer."

"That's true." Conan said simply, closing his eyes, a soft smile crossing his face. "That's one thing you'd never do. I still know you well enough to know that."

"...yeah." Grateful that his friend's eyes were closed, Heiji averted his own from him, scratching his cheek. "Yer right about that. More importantly, Kudo," quickly changing the topic, Heiji glanced back down towards him, "...what about those interviews?"

"Ah, those?" Opening his eyes, Conan glanced back up towards him, pausing to frown for a moment. There was something a bit odd in his gaze- but it passed as quickly as it had came, so perhaps he had only imagined it. "Out of the four of them, three of them have been with Professor Clarke since four years ago, and only one of them has an alibi for the first murder. Naturally, since we only heard about the second victim as we were leaving, I don't know about the second murder, though."

"Ah, if that's the case, I can check fer ya tomorrow." Heiji noted. "I'll be goin' back ta speak with that Professor myself. I get the feelin' there's somethin' that he might want ta tell me in private." A slight smirk crossing his face, he couldn't help but admit that he was a bit impressed with the old man that they had met. "He's the real deal, Kudo. Most of those guys are total frauds, but that one's somethin' different. He probably already realizes what I am."

"That's why he sounded so surprised when Hakuba acted as if he didn't understand what he meant by this not being a normal case." Conan recalled. "Not to mention his comment about your," and he couldn't help but grimace at the word, in spite of his best efforts not to, "... _aura_."

"In case ya were wonderin', whatever that drug did ta ya, it changed yer aura as well. I wouldn't be able ta tell yer not a kid just from yer aura alone." Heiji noted. "Well, if someone looked at ya through somethin' like the fairy's mirror, there still might be problems, but otherwise ya've got the aura of a little kid. That little Neechan too."

"Eh, really?" Blinking a little, Conan glanced back up at him. Judging from his tone alone, he could gather that Heiji thought this was something strange- and if _he_ thought so, it was probably true. Suddenly recalling those eerie words that had been left behind in the diary of that murdered game developer, for a moment, his thoughts returned to the much deeper case that he was involved in.

"Yeah. That's why I didn't recognize that ya weren't a real kid when we first met. Although I _did_ think there was somethin' strange about ya anyways." Heiji noted. "It's still overall the same color, though, in both forms. I thought it was weird back then, but I didn't quite figure it out until that ill-fated Holmes tour package."

"Is that so?" Putting a hand to his chin in thought, Conan couldn't help but muse over this piece of information for a moment. He hadn't thought about it before, but all of those crime scenes that they had experienced together... Heiji really had been looking at them all from a completely different perspective than he had been, hadn't he?

Well, since he had still drawn the wrong conclusion during that first case, it would seem that it didn't do him all that much good when it came to detective work, though. Either that, or he just wasn't using it to his advantage- he did have that vow of his that he was trying to keep to, after all.

"Yeah. That's pretty much it." Heiji told him, leaning back against the detective agency door. "If ya want, I can tell ya the whole story sometime. Although fer now, I think ya should focus on answerin' my questions, Kudo. Startin' with givin' me the names of that Professor's students. I recall that the one we met was Sienna Radcliff, and judgin' from what said earlier, she's probably the one student who wasn't with him four years ago. He said as much when he introduced her ta us."

"Yeah, that's right." Nodding his head, Conan refocused on the topic at hand. "The only one with an alibi is Aoi Gorman, who has been studying with him for around four years. Apparently she wanted to join this trip to get a chance to see her mother's homeland. She was eating at a restaurant close to the hotel at the time of the murder, and there were several witnesses amongst the staff who can testify to that."

"That leaves the other two- Duncan Brun and Irving Greene." Conan told him, narrowing his eyes. "Neither of them have alibis, and both of them have been with the Professor for over five years. The former is a writer who studies underneath the Professor to gather research material for his novels, and the second is, well..."

"He's _that_ type."

"Ah." With a click of his tongue, Heiji gathered what he was trying to say right away. "An occult maniac, huh?"

"Yeah. He'd probably be _thrilled_ to meet someone like you." Conan noted, taking note of the rather disgruntled expression his words earned him. "Sienna-san and Aoi-san are both college students, and in the case of the latter, she would have been a first year student at the time of the murders. Nineteen, in other words."

"Well, there's still a chance that the original criminal could be someone else." Heiji noted. "An' their child or sibling could have inherited their grudge. Those cases did suddenly stop after not even a month had passed back then. I'm still not sure what the reason fer that might be, but perhaps speakin' with the Professor tomorrow will shed some light on things."

"Be careful if you're going to go, Hattori." Conan noted. "Hakuba seems to believe in that old man, but there's still a chance that he could have ties to the culprit after all. It might be a trap for you."

"I've thought of that, of course." Heiji told him, nodding his head, before flashing him a broad grin. "What, ya worried about me? I'm touched!"

"Idiot, of course I am." Conan noted. "You have an amazing knack for getting yourself in trouble after all."

"Well, I suppose that's true." Heiji admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't suppose there's any point in askin' ya if ya noticed anythin' strange about the four of them?"

"Not anything that you would be looking for, no." Conan told him, shaking his head. "I can't help you there, Hattori. There's too many things on your side of reality that I don't understand, and I'm not sure how much I want to."

"That's fair. Ya've got yer own troubles ta deal with after all." Heiji noted, pushing himself up so that he stood up straight again. "In that case, I had better be headin' back home. There's some records that I want ta look into, an' some research that I need ta do. I should probably wake up that Gramps, now that I think about it. He knows all sorts of weird things."

"I don't think you really have the right to call anyone _Gramps_ , Hattori." Unable to help himself, the joke slipped out before he could even stop it- not that he would have even tried. If Heiji was going to make jokes at his expense, then well, two could play at that game. "Considering that you're an old man yourself."

"Like I said, that doesn't count!" Pivoting on his heel to glower back towards him, Heiji's brows furrowed together in anger. Why had he even told this guy something like that in the first place? "I'm seventeen, _seventeen_!"

"Yes, yes, you're seventeen." Conan said, nodding his head, practically grinning from ear to ear. " _One thousand_ and seventeen."

"If ya keep sayin' things like that, ya can consider my promise ta help ya return ta normal if that little Neechan doesn't work things out null an' void." Heiji noted, a triumphant smirk crossing his face at the way his friend flinched at his words. It was an empty threat, and he was certain that he would realize that soon enough, but seriously, _that guy_ \- it didn't count, it didn't count!

"Sorry, sorry." Quickly apologizing, Conan held up his hands. "Anyways, be careful, Hattori. Call me if anything comes up on your end."

"Yeah, I will." His glower giving way to a small smile, Heiji nodded his head. "Be sure ta call me if ya turn up anythin' on yer end too, Kudo. An' make sure ta be extra careful if ya get a chance ta corner the culprit. There's a chance that they might be carryin' around other nasty items, aside from the fairy's mirror."

"I'll be careful." Conan promised him, narrowing his eyes a little at the statement. There it was again- the impression that there was something more to this, other than what Heiji had told him thus far. He already had the impression that there was a third party involved in this case- that the person who had stolen the fairy's mirror and the person committing the murders weren't the same person.

But that was a matter that Heiji seemed to have determined to be something he needed to deal with. He didn't like it, but he couldn't say that he wasn't doing the exact same thing with the Organization- keeping his friend out because he didn't want him to get hurt. The stakes were too high- and for a moment, he couldn't help but wonder what Heiji's stakes were, to the point where he didn't want to tell him anything about the true case behind this one.

"Good. Then, I'll see ya later, Kudo. Sorry about wakin' ya." With a wave of his hand, Heiji headed back towards the stairs. "Tell Neechan that I said goodnight, if she's still up. Maybe once all this is over, I can call Kazuha here, an' the four of us can go out an' do somethin'."

"Sounds like a plan." Conan told him. "You had better deliver on it, Hattori."

He didn't need him to say it out loud- the undercurrent to his words was clear enough, and they were something he was planning on doing anyways.

Stay alive.

* * *

"Young master, you have a guest."

"A guest?" Glancing up from what he was reading, a deep frown crossed Heiji's face. That was weird- he hadn't sensed anyone crossing the barrier, and he hadn't arranged to meet anyone here tonight. Judging from the way his shikigami was acting, it didn't appear that there was an intruder either. "Who?"

"It's me, it's me." Planting her hands on her hips, a rather stern expression on her face, one that wasn't offset by the fact that she was in her pajamas at all, Kazuha strode into the room, glaring fury down at her childhood friend. "Don't tell me ya forget about me after just one day, Heiji?"

"K-Kazuha!" Sputtering, Heiji jolted to his feet, nearly knocking over the table in the process. That was right... he _had_ given her a key to this place, hadn't he? "What are ya doin' here!? An' at this hour too?"

"Isn't it obvious? I came ta see what my wayward childhood friend was up ta." Not even attempting to mask her sour tone, Kazuha's eyes narrowed. "The one who left without even sayin' anythin' first thing in the mornin', skippin' both school an' practice with it. The one who is no doubt workin' on some kinda weird case in secret."

She was mad. No, to be more precise- she was _furious_. He could almost understand why- she had probably thought that after he trusted her enough to tell her the truth, that she would have been a little more clued in on things revolving around this aspect of his life. He certainly could understand that, but even so, there was no way that he was going to involve her in this case!

"Sorry, sorry." Flashing her a quick grin, Heiji's voice took on an apologetic tone. "I'm just sort of used ta it, at this point. Ya know what they say about old habits."

"Even so, ya could have at least let people know ya were leavin'! We worry when ya disappear without sayin' anythin', Heiji." Folding her arms in front of her chest, Kazuha took two steps forward, planting herself in front of him and blocking any potential avenues of escape while she was at it. "Listen, they don't make it all that obvious, but both Auntie Shizuka an' Uncle Heizo worry when ya do that sort of thing. In case ya don't come back again."

"Ah, well that's..." Trailing off a little, trying to think up a viable excuse, Heiji's gaze fell away from hers. Usually he would have left a note, but he had been in such a hurry that morning that he hadn't even thought about it. "Sorry. I'm really sorry, Kazuha. I'll call mom first thing in the mornin' tomorrow an' let her know I'm alright. Okay?"

"Ya'd better." Kazuha said, heaving a long sigh. "So? What is it this time? Ran-chan told me all about that weird case goin' on in Tokyo right now. Is that what ya've stuck yer nose into this time?"

"Well, somethin' like that." Heiji told her. "I was goin' ta call ya, but I've been pretty busy this whole time, so..."

" _Meant ta_ ain't the same as actually _doin' it_." Kazuha remarked, before she allowed her shoulders to slump. There was no point in staying this worked up, really- she already understood full well how it was that Heiji worked. Once he got focused on a case, he didn't have time to think about anything else. "Is it one of _those cases_ , Mister Guardian?"

"Yeah." With a curt nod of his head, Heiji's brows furrowed together. He didn't want to discuss the details too much with her- she was better off not knowing them. "That's why I'm tryin' ta get it wrapped up as quickly as possible. If ya heard from Neechan about it, ya probably can understand why."

"Well, that's true." Kazuha admitted after a moment, nodding her head. "Are their faces really...?" Trailing off there, unable to finish the question, she could only grimace when Heiji nodded in response. "That's horrible. Is there anythin' I can do ta help, Heiji?"

"No, no, ya don't need ta do anythin' like that." Heiji quickly reassured her, reaching over to ruffle her hair, his grin growing as she made a face at his gesture. "I'll have it solved before long. An' when I'm done, the two of us can go an' try that new Chinese place that opened up near the station together, okay?"

"No, the two of us should make plans sooner than that." Kazuha told him. Reaching into the pocket of her pajama pants, she produced a pair of tickets, beaming widely at him. "See? I got these in the mail today! Two tickets ta a masquerade party, this Sunday, in Tokyo!"

"In the mail? Who from?" Blinking a little, Heiji carefully took the tickets from her, scanning the contents. The name of the hotel it was being hosted at... he remembered it from somewhere- but where...?

"I don't know. There wasn't any return address on the envelope." Kazuha told him, shaking her head. "I just figured that they were probably sent by someone ya solved a case fer in the past or somethin' like that."

"Wouldn't they send 'em ta me then? An' usually ya'd include a letter with that sort of thing." Heiji noted, racking his brain for a moment longer, before it dawned on him- the name of the hotel that the masquerade party was being hosted at was the same as the one that Professor Clarke and his students were staying at.

There was no way that was a coincidence.

"Oi, Kazuha. In the envelope with the tickets, was there anythin' else there?" Heiji asked, hoping that the cold feeling of dread that he was feeling wasn't show on his face.

"Mmm, just one thing." Kazuha noted, a slight frown crossing her face, placing a finger to her chin. "I guess it must have just gotten mixed up with the tickets, but there was a small square of paper in there with them. I thought it was gonna be some kinda note at first, but there was nothin' written on it- it was totally blank. Why do ya ask?"

If he hadn't already braced himself for this possibility, he might have shut down right there. Even so, it hit him hard- the idea that the culprit of this case was aware of Kazuha's existence, and had decided to target her as well. And that the same time, so hot that it burned away the cold feeling of dread that had risen in him, he couldn't help but get angry. To think that they would dare to go that far... that was something that he _definitely_ wouldn't forgive.

He'd have to apologize to Kudo, if he ever got the chance- because there was no way he was going to let the police deal with this one. This bastard was going to be his prey- and he'd make them see hell.

"Heiji?"

Realizing that he had allowed a silence to linger after her question, Heiji quickly snapped out of his thoughts, flashing her another broad grin. "No, no reason. Just tryin' ta get an idea as to who it was that might have sent them. But, Kazuha, do ya even have anythin' ta wear ta a party like that?"

"I was goin' ta ask Auntie Shizuka fer help tomorrow." Kazuha told him, frowning slightly. There was something in his expression that she didn't quite like... was there something else that he wasn't telling her? "Yer comin' with me, right, Heiji? The tickets call fer boy-girl pairs, so it's not like I can ask Ran-chan."

"Yeah. Don't worry." Closing his eyes, Heiji silently decided to accept the challenge that was clearly being tossed his way. "I'll _definitely_ go."

If that was how they were going to play, then he was going to have a few surprises of his _own_ in store for them.


	20. The Touching Bonds of Mutual Distrust

"If you're looking for the young master, he already left."

Somehow, those were exactly the words she had been expecting to hear when she had woken up to find Heiji nowhere. Although he had tried to convince her to go back home for the night, and sleep there, she had been rather stubborn on the matter. In the end, Heiji had relented, and guided her to a room that was right next to the one that he used for his own- a room that was now currently vacant of it's usual occupant.

"Oh, _did_ he now?" Kazuha asked, folding her arms in front of her chest, barely holding in her temper. Leaving without a word... had her lecture last night meant nothing to do him? "Back ta Tokyo, I'm assumin'?"

"Yes, that's correct." The shikigami that he had spoken to merely nodded it's head. "He told us to apologize to you once you woke up, but he wanted to get an early start on his investigation."

Heaving a long sigh, Kazuha let her shoulders slump. She got the feeling that there was something about this case that meant a great deal to Heiji. If that were true, then she wasn't exactly going to stand in the way of him solving it- as worried as she was for him, she was going to have to accept that this was something that he did quite often.

And she thought putting up with his detective nonsense was hard enough. When she coupled it with the idea that he was dealing with things that weren't even human, dangerous things... it made her shudder to think how much danger he had been putting himself through, when no one was around to see it. When no one even knew the risks he was taking.

"I suppose it can't be helped then." Kazuha admitted. "I'll just have ta tell his folks he's busy with another case, I guess. I'm willin' ta bet he didn't call 'em at all."

"We do believe the only thing on the young master's mind right now is keeping you safe, Toyama-san." The shikigami told her, making sure to guard their words so as to not say too much. Heiji rarely gave them serious orders, in spite of the fact that they had been created to serve his needs- but he'd been rather clear that they were to say nothing about the case he was looking into, and what it involved. "You fear this sort of thing."

There was a long pause there, as the meaning of the shikigami's words sunk into her. It was true- she was afraid of this sort of thing. She wasn't nearly so bad as Ran, but she couldn't deny that there were any number of things tied to the supernatural that sent a chill down her spine. She had to wonder if Heiji blamed himself for that- and she couldn't honestly deny that it wasn't somewhat true.

When one was childhood friends with someone who could see things past the veil, occasionally, one saw a little too much themselves. While catching glimpses of such things had never made her second guess or even question the merits of her friendship with Heiji, she knew that it was something that had plagued him at the time- and probably still did, from the sound of it.

"Well, I guess that's true." Kazuha admitted after a moment. Better to face the truth than try and deny it. "But it's not like I'm scared of _Heiji_. That idiot's all bark, no bite. I'm more scared of somethin' happenin' ta him."

"You need not worry, Toyama-san. The young master has quite a bit of experience in this area." The shikigami told her, making the decision to steer the conversation away from the topic. "Now then, if you stay here any longer, we are sure your parents will wonder where it is you've gone to."

"Is it already that time?" Kazuha asked. "It's awfully hard ta keep track of it here. I don't know how Heiji manages it."

"Would you like us to escort you to the exit?" The shikigami asked.

"No, I can manage it." Reaching into her pocket, Kazuha pulled out the key that Heiji had given her. In a way, it was a symbol of his trust in her- but that still didn't mean she didn't get to be miffed at him when he closed her out of things! "Thanks, though. Tell Heiji I'm comin' over ta see him tonight again, so we can talk about our plans for the masquerade party."

"We shall inform him." With a curt nod of it's head, the shikigami watched as Kazuha made her way back towards the bedroom that Heiji had allotted for her use. It was something that they needn't really tell the young master- after all, it would seem as if he already planned on speaking to her about it himself as it was already.

* * *

"I'm happy to hear that you accepted my invitation, Hattori-kun."

"Well, seein' as I got called away yesterday, I could hardly turn it down, could I?" Heiji asked, a quick grin flashing on his face. "Rather, I should be the one thankin' ya, Professor, fer seein' me again on such short notice. Ya seem ta be a busy man!"

"Yes, well, giving lectures does keep these old bones busy." The Professor simply remarked, beaming at the young man before him. He'd quickly moved them back inside his private chambers, shutting and locking the door behind him. Whatever it was that he wanted to share with him, he clearly didn't seem to want to risk any prying ears overhearing. "But for someone looking into the culprit that caused the death of one of my students, I'll always be able to make time."

"Well, that's my job." Heiji told him. "I wouldn't be much of a detective if I just sat back an' ignored somethin' like this."

"A detective indeed." Professor Clarke noted, unable to keep a hint of amusement off of his face. "You'll have to excuse me, Hattori-kun, but I was under the impression that your kind was... how should I put this..."

"Wiped out?" Heiji finished, shrugging his shoulders. As he thought, he really knew that much- this Professor really was the real deal. "Yeah. Ya could say that I'm a leftover they missed, an' leave it at that. Ah, but if yer wonderin' if I'm anythin' like they used ta be..."

"No, no, I can tell that much just from looking at you." Shaking his head, the Professor motioned for Heiji to take a seat, an offer that he accepted. "When you work in this field long enough, and get to the age I have, you start to gain the ability to read a person's inner feelings just from looking at them. Or at the very least, so I thought."

"Yer havin' doubts about yer students, in other words?" Heiji asked, resting his elbow on the armrest of his chair, leaning his chin into it. "Can't say I blame ya. Last night's victim attended one of yer lectures too, as it turns out. Tsujimura Naoko. Ya ever heard of her?"

"She didn't come to speak with us like the previous young lady did, but I _do_ recall seeing someone by that name on the list of attendees, during one of the previous week's lectures. That said, I don't recall which lecture it was, I'm afraid, but you're welcome to look at the attendance lists yourself if you need to." Professor Clarke told him, a tight frown crossing his face. "Of course, regardless of what lecture it was, all of my students would have been in attendance at the time. Still, to think that there might really be a chance that one of them might be doing something so cruel... it would seem that I'm not nearly as skilled at reading people as I thought I was."

"Well, they do say that it's harder fer people ta notice changes like that in someone they've looked after fer awhile now." Heiji noted. "Ya got any ideas, though? If one of yer students is really the culprit, they probably obtained a very powerful item fer themselves. I doubt they would have been able to bring it back here though, judgin' from the fact that you were able ta see through my aura so easily."

"No, I'm afraid not." Professor Clarke admitted, shaking his head. "In so far as I've noticed, none of them seem to be acting strange. I'd invite you to speak with them yourself, Hattori-kun, but other than Aoi-chan, they've all gone out for the day."

"Any chance ya know where they went?" Heiji asked. "I'm not as familiar with Tokyo as I am Osaka, but I bet if I poked around long enough, I could find 'em myself."

"Yes, I do know that much. If I recall, Duncan headed to Tokyo Tower early this morning, to collect some information for his new novel, and Irving seemed to have an interest in going to Akihabara. I'm afraid he didn't clarify where it was he was going there, though." Professor Clarke admitted, shaking his head. "As for Sienna, if I recall, she went to visit a shrine, though I don't recall which one, I'm afraid."

"I see. Well, I might be able ta find 'em from that." Heiji noted. "More importantly though, there was somethin' that ya wanted ta talk ta me about, right? Somethin' that ya couldn't say in front of Hakuba."

"Yes, that's correct." With a deep set frown, Professor Clarke merely let out a long sigh. "When I saw little Saguru come in with someone like you, Hattori-kun, I thought perhaps his long held skepticism had been cured, but it would seem that I was mistaken. He isn't aware, is he?"

"That guy?" Heiji asked, quirking a brow. "Not at all. Ta be honest, the two of us aren't even friends, so I gotta apologize fer my little lie back there. We've worked together more or less on two investigations before this, but aside from that, the two of us don't know each other all that well. It was just coincidence that we ran into each other when we came here."

"I see. Well, what can't be helped, simply can't be helped." Professor Clarke said. "He gets it from his father, really, though other than that problem, he truly is a rather bright boy. But I suppose I am getting rather off topic here, do forgive me. You're correct in that there was something more that I wanted to tell you. It was hardly the sort of thing that I could tell to the police back then, either."

"Just ta be sure, yer not just gonna tell me that the victims are all changelings, right?" Heiji interjected. "Because I know that much already. S'why I'm here."

"I assumed that you already did, fear not." Professor Clarke said. "There was something she said to me, you know, just a week before she died."

"By she, ya mean the first victim?" Heiji asked, perking up.

"The very same. Lovely young woman, she was. Very bright. However..." Trailing off, almost appearing uncertain for a moment, the Professor instead steeled himself to continue on. "She seemed to be bothered by something all that week, distracted. Whenever I tried to speak with her about it, she would claim it was nothing, and would change the subject. But just once, I managed to get something out of her."

"Are ya sayin' that she knew that someone was after her life?" Heiji asked, now taking great interest in what he was being told. As far as he knew, none of the previous victims had any idea that they were being targeted before their deaths. The police had never leaked any information about the blank paper, in fear that a panic might spread if they let the public know such a thing.

"No, that's not it." Professor Clarke told him, shaking his head. "Instead she looked very troubled, and admitted to me that she felt as if there was someone that she had once known, that she had forgotten suddenly. But as to who that person might be, she claimed that she had no idea, other than that she felt they weren't someone that she should have forgotten."

"Someone that she forgot..." His brows knitting together, Heiji placed a hand on his chin in thought. That was tugging at a corner of his memory, pulling at something that was familiar to him. As a look of realization dawned across his face, he couldn't help but spring to his feet, feeling as if a piece of the puzzle clicked into place.

If it was like _that_ , then...

"That student of yers, was there any chance that she mentioned anythin' about that blank paper she got ta ya?" Heiji asked, fixing his gaze on the Professor. When the man nodded his head, he felt a hint of a smirk cross his face. "Before or after she started actin' oddly?"

"Now that you mention it..." The Professor trailed off. "I believe it was _after_ I noticed that she was acting a bit oddly. She mentioned it once in passing, but I didn't think much of it at the time, other than it being a prank. It wasn't until I heard about the second and third victims having such a thing sent to them from Saguru that I made anything of it."

With that information, Heiji couldn't keep the smirk off of his face. Finally- _finally_ he had what felt like a clear piece of the puzzle. Furthermore, it was a piece that would have been impossible for anyone else to obtain- be it Kudo, Hakuba, or the police. After all, it was something far out of their area of expertise.

For a detective, it was probably one of the most valuable pieces of information- the motive.

Those fae children who had been exchanged for human ones generally had no idea as to what their true nature might be, that much was true- but the same couldn't be said of the humans that they had taken the place of. If they weren't killed outright, they were often kept in the faerie realm, meant to live out the rest of their lives there, aware of what had been taken from them. Some of them accepted it without much problem, but those that didn't usually did whatever they could to find a way to return to the human realm.

And if they managed to find a way... well, it was from there that such legends as doppelgangers had arisen.

If they managed to find a way back, those exchanged humans usually had only one goal- reclaiming what was rightfully theirs. Some of them spent their entire lives searching for the place where they belonged, never finding it. Others, however, came across their other selves, those who had taken their place. And in order to take it back, there was only one option.

Murder.

Well, to those exchanged humans, it probably wasn't murder. They were only eliminating something that should have never been there in the first place, in order to take back what was theirs. The fallout out of that was a ripple effect on the memories of the ones who had known the changelings- an inconsistently that simply couldn't be reconciled. For although on the surface, no one actually disappeared, somewhere inside, the knowledge that someone who had been there was now gone was something that couldn't be erased. Even other changelings weren't immune to this effect.

For someone who had been snatched away by the fae folk once, for someone who had returned to this world, and taken back their place... it was possible that they might go even further than that. If they were to come across any more changelings, they might be driven to erase them.

It was possible. It was more than possible.

But it still left the question of why the murders had stopped so abruptly four years ago, after only four victims had been killed. Had the culprit's anger been sated with just that? If that was the case, had there been something to wake it up again? Or was there something even more to their motive?

He didn't know- he didn't know yet, but he was _definitely_ going to find out. But before that...

"By the way, Professor, there's one more thing I need ta ask ya, actually." Heiji told him, not missing the slight way that the old man blinked at the sudden change of topic. "There's apparently a masquerade party bein' held at this hotel on Sunday. Any chance you an' yer students are goin'?"

"I would say so, considering it's being held in our honor." Professor Clarke told him. "Is there something that you need to know in regards to it, Hattori-kun?"

"Actually, I was hopin' that ya could do me just a _bit_ of a favor..."

* * *

"You seem rather troubled by something today, Hakuba-kun." Flutter though his heart might at the sound of her voice, there was no mistaking the rather coy note that was laced in it. There were times when he had to admit, he did not fully understand what the source of his own apparent attraction to her was. "If it's you, I assume that it must have something to do with the two recent murder cases that have everyone abuzz, correct?"

"That is a part of it, yes." Hakuba confessed. If he didn't miss his guess, Akako already knew full well what it was that was troubling him- and had likely only approached him in order to amuse herself. "How is it, again, that you came to know Hattori Heiji?"

"I believe I told you before that we simply ran into each other in middle school." Akako said simply, closing her eyes, leaning her back against the hallway window. "Why ask again?"

"Because I've found myself working on this case together with him, and I'm almost certain that there's something he's keeping from me. Something that I suspect you know." Beating around the bush was a useless endeavor when it came to Akako, he had learned- so he skipped the preamble, and jumped straight to the point. "When I'm working on a case together with someone, I like to know that they're someone I can trust."

"Oh no, you can't trust Hattori-kun at all." Peeking one eye open, Akako made no attempts to conceal her own amused grin. She had gone out of her way to do Heiji a favor- was there then anything wrong with her stirring the pot a little, in order to make it worth her while? "At the very least, not _this_ time."

" _This_ time?" Hakuba asked, his eyes sharply narrowing. He'd expected an indirect answer, much like he had gotten the last time- so getting anything direct out of Akako was strange in it's own right. "I will admit, during my previous encounter with him, Hattori-kun's behavior _was_ rather strange, however..."

Cutting himself short there, Hakuba reformulated his question, finding himself wondering what the reason behind Akako's sudden candidness actually might be. While there were many uncertainties in regards to their relationship, at the very least, he was able to gauge that it appeared to border on the almost antagonistic. That was, of course, only if one based it on the way in which they spoke of each other.

If they based it on anything further, the relationship once more became rather unclear. Although neither of them seemed all that fond of the other, it was clear that Heiji, at the very least, was willing to do favors for Akako. This was clearly inconsistent with the way he spoke of her, taking offense at even the mere implication that the two of them might be friends. While Akako did admittedly seem a bit like the type to do it, he couldn't say that _Heiji_ seemed the type to stand for being blackmailed- ruling such an option out.

What he _did_ know was the fact that Akako seemed to have access to a side of the high school detective of the west that others rarely saw. A side that he suspected that Edogawa Conan might have some knowledge of himself... but not nearly such a full understanding as Akako did.

So for Akako to say something like that... he didn't doubt that she had some kind of basis for it. While she could be rather cryptic at times, she rarely told outright lies. Most often, the truth worked the best for her, so there was simply no need to.

"You say that I can't trust him this time." Hakuba asked. "Why?"

"Because you have different goals." Akako said simply. "If I told you that Hattori-kun isn't working in the interest of the police this time, what would you do, Hakuba-kun?"

"Hattori-kun, hotblooded though he might be, is nevertheless the son of a very high ranking police officer." Hakuba stated plainly, locking eyes with the girl. "I wouldn't believe you."

"Well, I suppose that's a fair assessment." Akako admitted. "Perhaps you should remove yourself from this investigation while you still have the chance, Hakuba-kun. For someone who can't even capture a mere phantom, this case might be beyond you."

"While it's true that I've yet to capture Kid, I feel quite certain that this case is one that's well within my abilities as a detective to solve." It was a taunt, to be clear, but he sensed that there was something more yet behind her words. As to what that might be, he frankly could not yet say.

He had to admit, there was, nevertheless, some small part of him that _bristled_ at the implication that _Hattori Heiji_ was more equipped to solve this case than he was. He had studied the cases from four years ago quite in depth back then, and had more cause than anyone here to be familiar with them. If anything, that made him the _best_ choice to solve this mystery- and yet Akako seemed to be implying the exact opposite.

"Oh no, it's not that I have any doubts in your ability to _solve_ the case, Hakuba-kun." Akako told him, leveling her gaze with his own. "But whether or not you'll be able to uncover the _real_ truth behind this case... of that, I have my doubts."

"The real truth?" Hakuba asked, his brows knitting together. No sooner than he had thought she was being unusually frank for once, she had gone right back to being cryptic again. "Are you saying that there's something hidden within this case?"

"There's more than one truth to this world, Hakuba-kun. One might even say there's an infinite number of them." Akako stated simply. "What truth you see in the world depends entirely on the angle from which you view it. Such is the reality that we live in."

"Uncovering the truth is a detective's job." Hakuba noted. "I fail, however, to see what any of this talk has to do with Hattori-kun."

"It has everything to do with him." With a smile, Akako plainly told him that much. "Hattori-kun is one such person who contains multiple truths, truths that change depending from which angle you're looking at him from. Anything further than that, however, I'm afraid you won't be hearing from me."

"Then answer me this, at the very least." Hakuba began, already quite certain that he wasn't going to get a straight answer out of her. For a detective, such a thing wasn't always necessary, though. "If Hattori-kun's not working in the interest of the police this time, then whose interest _is_ he working in?"

"I can't tell you that." Akako told him, taking a step backwards, a rather coy grin working it's way across her face. "It's something you'll have to find out from Hattori-kun himself, though I doubt he'll answer you. Do be careful though. If you're not, you might find yourself forgetting that you ever had a question to ask at all."

Watching as Akako left through narrowed eyes, Hakuba made no attempts to stop her- even if he made her stay, he knew that he would get nothing further out of her. While he had never thought that she would serve to clear up any doubts that he might have in regards to Heiji, he hadn't quite suspected that she would muddle the waters to such an extent.

A person who contained multiple truths... what, exactly, did that mean in the case of Hattori Heiji?

* * *

"You know something don't you, Hattori?"

"What gave ya that impression, Kudo?" Flashing a broad grin down towards his shrunken friend, knowing full well that much was showing plain as day on his face, Heiji decided to play dumb anyways. It earned him a faint twitch from Conan, which only served to make his own grin all the broader.

"I thought we agreed to share information." Conan noted. "You even went so far as to pick me up at school today, so there must be something on your mind that you want to share with me. Unless you just wanted to rub it in that you're one step ahead right now, which knowing you, might be possible."

"Have a bit of faith in me, Kudo!" Letting out a laugh as that only earned him a sharp glower from Conan, Heiji merely nodded his head. "Ya caught me. After speakin' with that Professor, I think I have a pretty good idea of what the culprit's motive is. Although," what awkwardness had once barred the way had since turned into amusement, which was all but glittering in Heiji's eyes, "...I'm not sure it's any information that ya'd even know what ta do with, Kudo."

"Considering this case involves the murder of something I would have thought absurd a month ago, that doesn't really surprise me." Conan noted. "So? Are you going to tell me what you think anyways?"

"Ya wanna hear?" Heiji asked, briefly arching his brows as Conan nodded his head in response. "Well, I guess if ya wanna hear about it, I'll tell ya."

It was with a quiet sincerity that Conan listened to what it was his friend had to say- even though there were multiple points that he found himself wanting to cut in with a biting comment. He'd been the one to involve himself in this case, knowing full well what kind of case it was, so he couldn't make any complaints now. As a theory, what Heiji told him sounded logical enough- even though there were points to it that made the more skeptical part of him twitch.

"It's true that makes sense as a motive." Brows furrowing together as he processed what he had learned, Conan frowned. This was information that he wouldn't be sharing with Hakuba or the police- Heiji was right, it was something they would have taken seriously. "If I put it in more _normal_ terms, it would probably be akin to a victim of kidnapping wanting to take revenge on their kidnappers."

"Or a relative of the victim." Heiji noted, fighting back the urge to let out a rather sharp retort at that _normal_ comment. While it was normal for _him_ , he knew that it was the furthest thing from that for Kudo- but something about hearing that from someone who had been shrunk by some weird drug stung more than it would have otherwise. "But that's pretty much it."

"That's true." Conan mused. "Putting you aside, Hattori, since most of the other victims both now and then have been woman, does that mean the one who was the source of all this was a woman?"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinkin'." Heiji said. "Ordinarily, that would make Aoi-han and Sienna-han the most suspect, but it's too early ta rule out the other two as well. If the one behind the serial killings isn't the stolen human themselves, but a relative of theirs, it's possible that the culprit could be a guy."

"That's true." Conan admitted, folding his arms in front of his chest. "And? Did you get a chance to speak with the four of them yourself?"

"Most of them. All but Aoi-han had already left fer the day once I turned up there." Heiji told him. "I've been able ta speak ta three of them so far, based off what the Professor told me about where they went, but I haven't been able ta find Sienna-han just yet. She's supposed ta be at a shrine in the Tokyo area, but that's not really much ta go off on."

"As fer the three I spoke with, I couldn't pick up anythin' strange from them, at the very least." Heiji told him, shrugging his shoulders. "But that doesn't necessarily mean anythin'. Without the fairy mirror on 'em, they'd just feel like a normal human would. Of course, I haven't been able ta find the mirror either, but that sort of thing is always awfully good at hidin' itself."

"It's an _inanimate object_ , Hattori. It can't conceal itself." The retort came out of him before he could stop it- and he quickly came to regret it. "Judging from the look on your face, I just put my foot in my mouth, didn't I?"

"Ya sure did, mister great detective." Heiji noted, before letting out a small laugh. "Well, I can't blame ya, Kudo. Yer new ta all of this, an' hopefully, ya won't get involve much further in cases like these. I can already tell that it's not yer cup of tea, much as yer tryin' ta put yer best foot forward here."

"Hattori-" Conan began, before Heiji cut him off, shaking his head.

"It's fine, Kudo. Just the fact that ya understand now is more than enough fer me. Besides," briefly locking eyes with him, any mirth that had been on his face vanished in almost an instant, "...there's things that ya feel the same way about regardin' me, right? With those men of black of yers."

The ensuing silence serving as reply enough, Heiji merely shrugged his shoulders, taking a step forward. "Well, since I'm the same way, I can understand what yer reasons are fer that, Kudo. Ah, but that's right," Coming to a stop no sooner than he had started walking again, Heiji winced a little, feeling Conan running into the back of his leg behind him. "...sorry. But anyways, I've got somethin' fer ya, Kudo."

"Something for me?" Conan asked, glancing up from rubbing his nose.

"They're puttin' on a masquerade party at that hotel in the honor of the Professor an' his students, this Sunday. I need ya ta be there." Heiji told him, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the invitation that he had gotten from the Professor. He'd asked him to send out one more besides it- there was no way he was going to hand it over himself to _Hakuba_.

"A masquerade party?" Conan asked, taking the invitation from him, scanning it over. "Doesn't sound like something they would let a child into by himself."

"It's not." Heiji told him. He was taking a bit of a gamble here, but as long as he skirted around the actual truth, it wasn't likely to be a conclusion that Kudo would come to on his own. "Kazuha an' I got sent initiations in the mail already. Probably from the culprit."

"The culprit!?" Conan asked, that getting his attention right away. "Why didn't you tell me something like that sooner, Hattori!?"

"Cause I didn't know about it till Kazuha told me last night." Heiji told him, quirking a brow. "She came ta my place late last night, ta show me the invitations she had been sent."

"And to lecture you, I bet." Conan noted, knowing from the slight way his friend twitched that he had hit the mark. "In other words, they're using Kazuha-chan in hopes of luring you into a trap."

Something about that explanation didn't seem to sit quite right with him, but he wasn't quite sure what. It didn't seem as if it was a big point, however, so for the moment, he put it aside.

"Yeah, that's probably it." Heiji said, nodding his head. It would be for the best if he kept thinking that. He didn't think that Kudo would think of Kazuha any differently for it- she wasn't the one who had made the choice, after all- but it wasn't something he would ever hear from his own lips. "Since the party calls fer boy girl pairs, they probably didn't have much of a choice but ta invite her if they wanted me there."

"Does the fact that they invited you mean that they were aware you'd track them eventually?" Conan mused, finding himself scanning over the invitation once more, as if answers would suddenly spring forth from it. "But if it's boy girl pairs, won't I need to bring Ran or something?"

"Hell no, don't bring Neechan." Heiji said, quickly realizing his tone had come across as more than a little short. "Sorry, sorry. What I mean is, it's fer the best that ya don't involve her in this. Ya look like a kid, so as long as ya come along with Kazuha an' I, yer probably gonna be fine."

"Well, I'll have to tell Ran _something_ , or she'll worry." Conan noted, his expression quickly turning to a frown as he took note of the leering expression on his friend's face. "Don't give me that look, Hattori. You know she thinks I'm a kid."

"I know, that's why I'm givin' ya this look." Heiji told him, his grin only growing. "But that's fair. If ya tell her about it though, she'll probably want ta go, so make up an excuse about goin' over ta that little neechan's place or whatever."

"Fine." Tucking the invitation away into his schoolbag for the moment, Conan cast a glance up towards Heiji. "But I'm surprised that you're actually going to bring Kazuha-chan with you. Weren't you trying to keep her away from this case?"

"I don't have a choice." Heiji said, shrugging his shoulders. "Ya read what the invitation said. Besides, if the culprit's gonna do me the favor by showin' themselves, then I'm not about ta pass up the chance ta show 'em what a mistake that is."

"Well, with any luck, we'll find them before Sunday." Conan noted. "I don't suppose you've found any further victims yet, Hattori."

"Not yet." There was honesty in his words- right up until the point he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. "...or scratch that, maybe I just did. Give me a second, Kudo." Pulling out his phone, he glanced down at the message that Akako had sent him, frowning deeply as he scanned the contents. "Looks like yer in luck, Kudo."

"Considering what that means, I'd rather not be." Conan said. "Are you sure this mysterious source of yours can be trusted?"

"Oh, hell no." Heiji noted with a snort, tucking his phone back away. "But she's got nothing to do with _this_ , at the very least."

* * *

"Ah, if you're looking for Conan-kun, he gave me a call earlier to tell me that he was with Hattori-kun right now." With an apologetic smile, Ran preempted anything that the rather unexpected guest who had turned up at her door had to say. There was, after all, only one reason that she could think of that Hakuba Saguru would turn up here- especially since he had been the one to bring Conan back last night.

"With Hattori-kun?" Considering that he had been underneath the impression that Heiji had been avoiding Conan for most of yesterday, the fact that he was out with him right now was rather surprising to hear. "I see. Do you have any idea as to where they might be, Mouri-san?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Ran told him, shaking her head. "Conan-kun didn't tell me that much."

"You're rather calm, considering what he's probably bringing Conan-kun along with him to look into." Hakuba couldn't help but note. "Although I suppose I shouldn't entirely be the one to say such thing, considering that I ended up doing very much the same myself yesterday."

"I know Hattori-kun." Ran told him. "I trust him. He's not the type who will let any harm befall Conan-kun. Besides, they're friends, those two."

"Yes, I've noticed that much." Hakuba admitted. "I wouldn't have pictured Hattori-kun for the time to befriend someone ten years younger than him, though."

"Well, it's true that they didn't get along at first." Ran admitted, pausing to frown a little. Come to think of it, they had gotten awfully friendly with each other after that one case, during that Holmes package tour. "But lately they've been as close as brothers. Ah, but if you wanted to meet up with them to help, Hakuba-kun, I could give Conan-kun a call for you."

"No, that's quite alright." Shaking his head, Hakuba turned the offer. "Hattori-kun doesn't care for me that much, after all."

"I see." Well, if Hakuba was anything like Shinichi was in the area of skepticism, she could sort of understand why Heiji didn't really like him that much. Putting on an act for so long had to get tiring. "In that case, I'll let Conan-kun know that you were looking for him when he comes back home. Are you going to investigate that dreadful case again?"

"Yes." Nodding his head, Hakuba narrowed his eyes. "Another victim turned up. I was going to ask Conan-kun if he wanted to investigate the scene with me. I suppose Hattori-kun beat him to the punch, however."

"That's odd..." Putting a finger to her chin, Ran frowned. "Conan-kun didn't say anything about that in his last message to me. He only said that he and Hattori-kun had found a lead, and were following it right now."

"Is that so?" Blinking a little, for a moment, Hakuba couldn't help but let Akako's earlier words to him drift back to the forefront of his thoughts. "Was there any chance that he mentioned what this lead was?"

"No." Ran shook her head. "But if there really was another victim, shouldn't you be going? You have to investigate it, right?"

With a curt nod of his head, Hakuba took that as a sign to excuse himself. "In that case, you would be correct, Mouri-san. Perhaps we will see each other again."


	21. The Case of the Childhood Friends Whose Bonds Are Extremely Literal

In hindsight, he supposed that he wasn't all that surprised to learn that Heiji's mysterious source was none other than Koizumi Akako. She, for one, didn't seem the least bit surprised to see him there.

"Well, well, if it isn't the famous Kid Killer." Poorly concealing her bemused smile, Akako's gaze flickered towards him. "Fancy seeing you here, and in such company."

"Can it, Koizumi." Keeping his tone rather curt, Heiji shot her a warning look. "The kid's with me, so don't bother him. Don't ya have a ritual sacrifice or whatever ta get ta anyways?"

"Now, now, if you say things like that, I'm afraid little Edogawa-kun here will take you seriously." Merely arching her brows at his words, Akako took a small step away from him. As she thought, it would appear that he very much wanted to keep her away from the likes of Edogawa Conan- which, of course, only made her want to do the exact opposite.

It wasn't that often one saw a child with that sort of curse cast on him, after all. She couldn't help but be at least a little bit interested.

"Idiot, he knows sarcasm when he hears it." Heiji shot back. "I don't suppose ya found any leads on yer end about the fairy mirror?"

"First you insult me and then you ask me for another favor. As always, you're quite the charmer, Hattori-kun." Akako noted, before simply shaking her head. "I'm afraid not. I'm sure you know that us witches and the fae folk generally do not get along, though perhaps not nearly so poorly as your kind and theirs. I've no interest in getting too deeply involved with this matter."

"Yes, yes. Ya've made yerself perfectly clear." Rubbing the back of his neck, Heiji let out a long sigh, his gaze briefly flickering down towards Conan. He had been pretty quiet this whole time, and it was starting to bug him. He couldn't possibly be under the influence of Akako's charm, even with his body in that state, could he?

Just a little, Heiji quickly determined, his lips twisting in a frown. He was going to have to make sure that the two of them never crossed paths when he was in his normal form- his best friend getting flustered over that damn witch wasn't something that he wanted to see. Nor was it something he wanted to have to show Neechan, for that matter.

"Well, in that case, I'll leave you two boys to your detective work." There was a hint of mockery in her tone that made Heiji's eyes narrow, an expression which did not seem to faze her in the least. "Have fun~."

Watching Akako go, Conan cast a glance up towards Heiji, wincing a little as he took note of the annoyed expression on his face. "She's... quite the interesting person, isn't she, that Koizumi-san?"

"Interestin' is one way of puttin' it, I guess." Heiji grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets and turning back on his heel. "Come on, Kudo. We got a corpse ta look at. Imagine it's gonna be just as pretty as sight as all the others."

Not wanting to press the issue, Conan fell into step behind him. Yet again, this corpse had been found in a place that would be rather hard to simply stumble across. The warehouse district that they found themselves in wasn't one that saw much use, especially not this particular section of it. The corpse had been hidden inside an old crate, one that Heiji carefully lifted up, wearing gloves to prevent his fingerprints from getting on it. Perhaps the first corpse had been something of a fluke- or perhaps it had been deliberate, meant to serve as a notice that they were here.

A notice, perhaps, directed not towards the police- but towards one they were targeting.

"Ya comin' Kudo?" Heiji asked, glancing behind him, a slight frown crossing his face. "It's not like ya ta not wanna see the corpse fer yerself."

Snapping out of his thoughts, Conan hurried to catch up with his friend. Using a smaller crate that had been placed in front of the large crate where the corpse had been found, he propped himself up with it. As he thought, today's corpse wasn't anything that much to look at anymore either. "I can't say that I'm too sure about this though, Hattori."

"What, there's nothin' wrong with it!" Heiji beamed. "It's no different from when we go pokin' around a crime scene before the police actually show up, right? Besides, we'll let 'em know where she is after we're done here, so don't worry too much about."

"Well... I suppose you have a bit of a point there." Conan admitted, turning his gaze back down towards the body, his expression turning grim as he did so. "Still, as always, it's a cruel sight. The culprit must really have a deep grudge to go this far."

"Yeah." Heiji noted, fixing his own attention back towards the corpse. For a brief moment, a mental image that he would have rather not pictured entered his mind, and he had to force back a shudder. He wouldn't let that happen- not in a million years. "If my theory is right, that would probably explain it."

"From the way you described it, at least." Conan noted, casting an almost rueful glance up towards him. "You were right about it being a bit out of my depth, Hattori. Still, I won't just sit around and let something like this happen, no matter how justified the culprit thinks their actions are. It's still murder."

"That's right." With a curt nod of his head, Heiji lowered the lid of the crate back down, pulling off his gloves. Tucking them away back into his pocket, he narrowed his eyes, taking a slight step back, already starting to wonder how he would let the police know about the corpse here without drawing any attention to himself. "Besides, fer all we know, the ones these three might have replaced might not have any issues with it. Most don't, ya know."

"You talk like you've met some." Conan couldn't help but note. "Have you?"

"Well sure I have! What kind of job do ya think I have anyways?" Heiji told him, forcing a smile onto his face. He had to go and find her, after all- if only to sate his own curiosity. They had only met the one time, but that one time was enough to let him know that there was no resentment in her heart, and that she was perfectly happy where she was.

It wouldn't have changed anything even if there was. She wasn't the one he had grown up with, after all- though they might share the same face. To him, the imposter was the real one, more real than even the real thing.

There would be others who probably wouldn't agree with him- which was why no matter what, he was going to make sure that this was kept under wraps. Especially from the person herself. It was a secret that he knew he had to keep- and not one that had anything to do with lack of trust.

"Well then, Kudo," allowing a more genuine grin to grow on his face, Heiji tucked his hands into his pockets, "...shall we give our friends at the police station a call?"

Somehow, he got the vague feeling that he didn't like what that grin entailed.

* * *

Wait for me after school, he had said.

I'll be right there after it lets out, he had said.

She should have known by now that Heiji was not one to keep his promises- at least not ones like this. Glancing down at her watch for what felt like the twentieth time, Kazuha grumbled to herself, wondering if he had simply perhaps lost track of the time after all. If he didn't show up soon-!

"Sorry, sorry, Kazuha!" Perking up at the sound of his voice, Kazuha let out a slight sigh, turning on her heel to face the boy who had called out to her. Judging from the apologetic look on his face, he at the very least had the sense to be aware of the fact that he was late this time- so maybe she would let him off a bit easy. "I got held up with the case!"

"Well, that's more or less what I expected." Kazuha noted, folding her arms in front of her chest. She was still a little annoyed with him- he could have at least called! "So? What's so important that ya had me skip out on aikido practice ta talk ta me about, Heiji? Ya said it was about this Sunday."

"That's right, that's right." Nodding his head, Heiji took a moment to catch his breath. He hadn't expected that finding a nearby mirror to slip through in the area would have been such a problem, but it wasn't as if he could just slip out of one in front of someone. "It's an important conversation that I need ta have with ya in a place that's a bit more private!"

"Then why didn't ya just ask me ta wait at yer place, if ya needed ta talk about in private?" Kazuha asked, her brows knitting together. There was something in the way that he put it that made her think that there was perhaps a bit more to this masquerade party they had both been invited to. It didn't have something to do with his current case, did it?

No... carefully assessing his body language, Kazuha quickly determined that it did. She might not be a detective, but she knew her childhood friend- the fact that he had been keeping secrets from her all this time didn't change the fact that he was easy to read. He might have been able to conceal it from her last night, but now she could tell, as crystal clear as it came. He'd been hiding it back then, she thought, but he'd figured out the answer to whatever he had been debating back then now.

"I figured I should probably show my face back home, seein' as I ran off without even leavin' a note." Heiji told her, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, Kazuha. It seems like ya talked ta my mom fer me, so I should probably thank ya for that. I kinda forgot about it."

"I can't say we're not both used to this sort of behavior from you." Kazuha noted, letting out a long sigh. "Have ya ever thought about tellin' her, Heiji? I don't mean yer father, of course, that might be a bit complicated, but Auntie Shizuka at least-"

"No." Simply shaking his head, Heiji quickly cut her off. "I'm not gonna tell her. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I think she wouldn't understand, or anythin' like that. I just don't really think it's that important between the two of us."

Besides, he kind of got the feeling that his mother, at least, perhaps had some idea that the boy that she had taken in as her son wasn't quite as he appeared to be. She had been the one who had been summoned to that place, after all- the one who had been chosen to raise him, in a sense. If she never felt the need to bring it up with him, then he didn't see the need to do it either.

That was just the kind of relationship that they had.

"Well, if ya say so, Heiji." Kazuha said after a moment. "Then, let's head ta yer place then. We can talk there, right?"

"Yeah, let's do that!" Flashing Kazuha a broad grin, Heiji could only hope that what he actually had to discuss with her would go over well. Not only did he need to dance around the reasons why, but the request itself was, _well_...

It was a good thing, really, that they had known each other since they were babies.

* * *

"I thought you were with Hattori-kun, Conan-kun."

"Ah, I was until just a little bit ago..." Conan began, before blinking slightly, something clicking in his mind. "But how did you know about that, Hakuba-niichan?"

"I went by your residence earlier." Hakuba told him simply. It was a fair question, after all. "Ran-san told me that you were out with Hattori-kun at the moment. Is he around here somewhere?"

"No, Heiji-niichan had something important to do, so we went our separate ways." Conan told him, shaking his head. He'd been ditched, essentially- the Osakan detective had taken one look down at his watch, and had nearly panicked. It wasn't hard to figure out from the way that he was acting that he'd made a promise to meet up with Kazuha somewhere, so Conan had freely let him go, promising to let him know if anything came up.

"That's strange. I would have thought for certain that he would have wanted to come see the scene." Hakuba couldn't help but note, turning his gaze back in the direction of the crate. He had come here as soon as he had left the Mouri residence, to take a look at the scene of the third murder. No, perhaps that wasn't quite right- like the first and second murders, it was clear that the actual crime had not taken place where the third corpse was found, but likely somewhere else.

Biting back a comment that Heiji had already gone over the scene, Conan merely gave Hakuba a small smile. "He asked me to tell him about the scene later. He'll come here himself, if he get the time." He said, turning his own gaze towards the crate, hoping not to make it too obvious that he himself had already been here. "Have you been able to identify the victim yet?"

"No, not yet." Hakuba told him, shaking his head. "But we're closing in. Judging from the manner of her dress, it's possible that she worked as a hostess. The Inspector has people asking around at the local clubs right now."

"I see! Hopefully you'll be able to find out soon!" Conan said. In the end, their own investigation into her identity had been cut short by Heiji's abrupt exit, so they hadn't gotten that far themselves. No doubt he wanted to discuss with Kazuha their plans for Sunday.

He hoped that he had informed her that there might be some level of danger in attending the masquerade party in question. If the culprit knew that Heiji was likely to come if they invited Kazuha as bait, then they must have been keeping tabs on him for awhile before this- unless there was something else to this that he was still missing. And frankly, the more he thought on it, the more it really felt that way.

It could simply be his own anxiety- if Heiji had been concealing such a fundamental fact about himself for so long, what else might he be hiding from him? He knew that he was, in fact, still hiding things from him- but this, he thought, was not related to whatever larger scheme was likely behind this current string of murders. This was something else- something that he had yet to pinpoint.

It troubled him, but at the same time, he had decided to put his faith in Heiji. There might very well still be things that he was hiding from him, but if there was one thing he knew with confidence, it was the fact that they were friends. His underlying nature might not be what was shown on the outside- but when it came to his personality, everything was exactly as it was shown on the tin.

He couldn't deny that he liked that part of him.

"We can only hope." Hakuba noted. "This is the third victim in two days. Hopefully our culprit only managed to create one corpse last night, and not two."

There was something in Conan's words that he found a bit strange, but for the moment, he decided not to press it. The idea of Heiji leaving the task of looking over the crime scene to someone else didn't sit right with him. Unbidden, Akako's words from before once more bubbled to the surface of his mind.

_"If I told you that Hattori-kun isn't working in the interest of the police this time, what would you do, Hakuba-kun?"_

Even if such a thing were true, he got the feeling that he wouldn't be getting any answers from Edogawa Conan. If anything, it would only serve as an advance notice to his fellow high school detective that he suspected something strange about him. And if he really were doing something behind the scenes that made him suspect... well, he could only imagine that it would only become all the more difficult for him to find out what.

Still, it was entirely possible that Akako had only said those things to create strife between them- she was that type, after all. He wasn't certain as to what she would gain from it, but there was surely something there that would benefit her somehow. Amusement, if nothing else.

"Is something wrong, Hakuba-niichan?" Frowning a little, Conan tiled his head. He seemed to be awfully full of questions about Heiji- which he could only hope was mere curiosity on his part. "You seem a bit distracted."

"Ah, no, it's nothing." Merely shaking his head, Hakuba turned his attention back towards the crate. "Well then, since you're here, are you interested in assisting me again today, Conan-kun?"

"Sure!"

* * *

Never in a million years, did she ever once think that her childhood friend would end up asking her something like this. But then again, she had never once suspected that he might be anything other than human, either, and look how _that_ had turned out.

There was something resolute, however, in well... his eyes, that made her fight back the overwhelming urge to argue against this plan. Especially since she could sense that there were a few details that he was leaving out. What he had told her made sense, to be sure- that the culprit behind the recent serial murder cases was trying to lure him into a trap, and was using her as bait to that extent.

The idea that someone was trying to use her as bait ticked her off, to say the least- but what bothered her the most was the fact that Heiji had kept something as absolutely critical as the fact that the serial murderer was targeting him a secret. He'd very quickly explained to her that he'd been keeping it from her because he didn't want to worry her, and that he more than had it under control, but that hadn't been enough to keep her from biting back her temper.

_"Ya've got more ta worry about in concerns ta my detective work than ya do with my duty."_

If his duty included having people actively angling to take his life, then she was going to have to dispute his earlier words. Even if it _did_ technically intersect with his detective work this time.

Briefly, she found herself wondering how many cases in the past had done so already. Perhaps all of the cases that they had been drawn into before, that involved something vaguely supernatural to them fell into that category. Though given the fact that Heiji had chosen to bring her along on no small number of those, he must have already known that the so-called supernatural elements of the case were already likely fake.

When she thought about that, it finally sunk into her a bit- that this sort of thing had been going on all this time, without her knowledge. That all this time, he had been doing this sort of work, all by himself. It wasn't as if she had any cause to doubt what Heiji had told her, not after all of the things that she had seen in the past month or so, but rather, the reality just hadn't quite fully set in just yet.

Well, as his childhood friend, she would do what she could to support him here too- even if it wasn't that much.

"Fine, Heiji, I'll go along with yer plan." Kazuha said finally, letting out a long sigh. "But I'm just tellin' ya now, I don't know that guy all that well. I only met him all of once, an' not even fer all that long."

"I know. That's kinda the point."

"Well... I guess it _would_ make things a bit easier." Kazuha mused, placing a hand against her chin in thought. For a moment, she locked eyes with her childhood friend- before she grimaced slightly, turning her attention back away. "But just so ya know, yer gonna owe me one fer this! The only reason that I'm agreein' ta this is because I trust ya, an' cause ya seem so dang insistent about it."

"Fair enough. Once all this is over, we can do anythin' ya want, Kazuha."

"I'm holdin' ya ta that promise, Heiji." Kazuha remarked, before stretching out her hand. "Now gimme my charm back already."

"What, ya bothered by this?" The grin on her friend's face made her eye twitch, but at the very least, Heiji did what she asked, tossing her charm back in her direction. Once it was back in her hands, she felt herself relax a little. "I wouldn't be askin' ya if I could think of any other plan, ya know."

"I know." Kazuha noted, barely glancing towards him as she returned her charm to where it usually belonged. "But I think it's gonna take me a little while longer ta wrap my head around ya bein' able ta use magic like that than maybe I first thought. Ya've done that before, haven't ya?"

"A few times, yeah." Heiji told her, a rather easy grin on his face. "Well, don't worry about it, I promise I won't do anythin' weird! I made sure that Conan-kun doesn't bring Neechan along either, so ya've got nothin' ta worry about there either."

"Speakin' of Neechan, though," Heiji began, taking note of the slight way that Kazuha seemed to flinch at his words. So she really had- honestly, what a troublesome girl she could be sometimes. "...ya told her some stuff, didn't ya?"

"Ah, well that's..." Trailing off a little, a rather guilty expression crossed Kazuha's face. "It's just, after that talk about yer dreams from before, she seemed kinda worried, so it just..."

"But, I heard from Ran-chan that ya told Kudo-kun about it, so what's the problem?" Quickly recovering, Kazuha planted her hands on her hips, this time locking eyes with Heiji without fail. "How did that go, by the way? From what I heard from Ran-chan, Kudo-kun's kinda..."

"Ah, it went fine." Well, if she had some idea of what he had been concealing for that long, it was no wonder that she had been able to determine that much. Still, Heiji couldn't help but smile at the touch of concern that Kazuha's voice took on. "I showed him some stuff that even that guy couldn't deny. Really, I'm feelin' a lot more free now, so I'm kinda wonderin' why I didn't do it sooner."

"But still, tellin' Neechan about me," just as quickly changing the direction of the conversation as Kazuha had done earlier, Heiji returned Kazuha's earlier glare with one of his own. "...ya _know_ how she is about ghosts an' stuff! She's even worse than you with them!"

"Do ya really think Ran-chan would be like that?" Kazuha shot back, narrowing her eyes. "She's a good girl, ya know. I'm sure even if she'd know ya back when you were a kid, she'd be fine with ya!"

"Well, that's true..." Heiji admitted after a moment, unable to deny that much. It was certainly true that Ran was afraid of ghosts and monsters, but aside from some lingering gazes, it didn't feel as if she had been treating him all that differently lately. "How much did ya tell her anyways?"

"Only what I knew back then. About yer dreams, an' the ghosts an' stuff. Ah, I did mention that poltergeist phenomena that used ta happen around ya, too." Kazuha told him frankly. "She was a bit surprised, but she told me very clearly that she wasn't goin' ta think of ya as bein' scary by extent because of it, or anythin' like that."

"I see." Letting out a small breath, Heiji turned on his heel, facing away from Kazuha. "Ya didn't... ya didn't tell her about that incident, did ya?"

"No." Knowing at once exactly what incident he meant, Kazuha shook her head, feeling something in her heart lurch as Heiji's expression shifted at the mere mention of it. As she thought, even after all this time, it still weighed heavy on him, like a burden that he would never be able to let go of. "It's not somethin' that ya really talk about. If ya wanna talk ta her about it sometime though Heiji, I'm sure she'd understand."

"I'm sure she would, that Neechan." Heiji remarked, a hint of a smile crossing his face as he slowly turned back towards her. "Like ya said, she's that type of person. But well, I think she's got enough ta worry about without me addin' my own problems ta the list."

"Well... that's true, I guess." Kazuha admitted after a moment, before she gave him a quick smile, crossing the room to stand by his side. "But make sure ta keep yer promise, Heiji. When this case of yers is all wrapped up, let's go somewhere fun, the two of us."

That was what came out of her mouth- but the underlying meaning to it was something else entirely. Be careful, she was saying- and to Heiji, her true words were as clear as day.

"Idiot, of course I'll keep my promise!" Heiji told her, a bright grin lighting up his face. "If I didn't, ya'd never let me hear the end of it."

"Well, holdin' ya to yer word is part of my own duty as yer childhood friend." Kazuha teased. "Now then, ya got a case ta get back ta, don't ya? I won't hold ya up anymore here. Besides, we'll still see each other on Sunday, won't we?"

"Yeah." Heiji nodded, his grin taking on a bit of an impish nature. "Sunday."

* * *

_There's a public restroom not far from where ya are, right? Meet me there, Kudo!_

Conan wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad sign that it only took him a moment to figure out why it was that Heiji wanted to meet up with him in the nearby public restroom. What part of him had already begun to accept the fact that his rival came from a very different world than he had already made the link between the somewhat odd request, and the rather unusual manner of transport that Heiji was capable of using.

What part hadn't quite yet, found itself twitching as he connected the dots, even as he sent him a reply that he would do so. In the first place, why was it that he had to be the one to meet him? Why couldn't he just find them? He'd asked for the current location, after all, it wasn't as if it would be all that _hard_ -

Ah, that was right. _Them_.

That was problem.

"Is something the matter, Conan-kun?" Glancing down towards the slightly peculiar child with a slight frown, Hakuba took note of the fact that his cellphone was out. He appeared to have been exchanging messages with someone for the past minute or so. Judging from the expression on his face, before he quickly covered it up with a smile, he could somewhat guess with whom.

"Ah, no, it's nothing!" Conan said, shaking his head. "I just have to go to the restroom, Hakuba-niichan! Why don't you get started on asking them questions without me?"

"Are you sure?" Hakuba asked. "It seems as if we've found the right shop."

"It's fine! Besides, that's not really a place for children to enter anyways, right?" Conan ventured, taking half a step back. "You said it yourself not all that long ago, and I'm starting to think that you're right!"

While the child had a point, Hakuba couldn't help but not be convinced- if he really had a problem with it, he would have stopped coming with him after they had checked the _first_ shop, not when they were checking the _fourth_. Still, one thing was crystal clear to him- that he wanted to get away from him, and without drawing his suspicion. Though he had failed in the latter, Hakuba supposed that he had no choice but to let him go.

After all, it wasn't as if he was much interested in pressing a _child_ for whatever secret it was that Hattori Heiji- who he was doubtlessly going to meet- was hiding. While he still wasn't convinced that Akako's words held merit, nevertheless, he was quite certain that it was true enough that the high school detective of the west was hiding things. Not just from him, of course- but rather, probably from the world at large.

The fact that he hadn't the slightest clue as to what that might be was perhaps the most frustrating thing of all.

"Then, hurry on, Conan-kun." Hakuba told him. "I'll let you know if I learn anything that might help the investigation."

"I got it! Thank you, Hakuba-niichan!" With a wave of his hand, the small boy disappeared within the crowd, leaving Hakuba behind in an area of Tokyo that he never quite thought he would find himself in. Goodness, but this case was taking all kinds of labyrinthine turns. Given that it was one that had even perplexed his own father, back in the past, perhaps that shouldn't come as a surprise.

Before he could enter the shop in which he suspected that the victim most likely had worked, Hakuba found himself having to remove his own cellphone. It was a phone call, not a text message, and one that came from someone related to the case at that. He'd given the old man his phone number before parting ways with him yesterday, so there was nothing all that strange about it.

"Professor Clarke?" Hakuba answered, stepping off to the side a little. "Did something perhaps come up?"

"Ah no, nothing of that nature, my boy." Professor Clarke was quick to reassure him. "I thought that I would call and see if my invitation reached you."

"Invitation?" Hakuba blinked, a slight frown on his face. "I'm afraid I have not been home since this morning, Professor. If you could perhaps elaborate?"

"Ah, out working hard on the case, are you?" The Professor asked. "That's quite fine then. The hotel that I am staying in his hosting a masquerade party this Sunday, and I sent you an invitation earlier this morning. I know you're likely to be quite busy given what you're looking into right now, but I would very much like it if you could come."

"A masquerade party?" Hakuba asked, considering his words for a moment. Though he was loathe to think it, if one of the Professor's students really did have something to do with the case, it would give him a chance to interact with them in a less stilted setting than their previous meeting. "You always _did_ have a fondness for them. I suppose I can make it."

"I'm rather pleased to hear it." The Professor told him. "Well then, I suppose I must be interrupting something, so I will let you go, little Saguru. Do be careful, now."

"You don't have to concern yourself with me, Professor." Hakuba said simply. Unlike some people, he took care to be cautious when it came to cases like this one. "I will make certain to watch my back."

Exchanging his goodbyes with the old man, Hakuba hung up his cellphone, tucking it back away in the pocket of his school uniform's jacket. Perhaps the case would be closed come Sunday- or perhaps not. With it only being two days away from now, he was starting to suspect that the latter might be more of a possibility than the former.

He would do everything in his power to overturn that conclusion, though.

* * *

Somehow, the sight of his rival emerging from one of the mirrors placed over the restroom's sink didn't surprise him anymore.

"Yo, Kudo! Hope I didn't keep ya waitin' fer too long!" With a bright grin on his face, Heiji stepped down onto the restroom floor, looking for all the world like what he had just done was natural. And for him, Conan supposed, it _was_ \- which was the part of all of this he was having the most trouble grasping.

"Finished your meeting with Kazuha-chan?" Conan asked, biting back any other comments that he wanted to make. "You really shouldn't forget about your promises with her."

"It's not like I expected ta find a corpse!" Heiji protested. "An' there's no way I could leave without givin' it a look over first! So? Ya find anythin' out about that woman's identity? That's what ya've been doin' all this time with Hakuba, ain't it?"

"I was about to, when you sent me a message." Conan told him, merely quirking a brow. "If you want to rejoin him..."

"Pass." Holding up a hand, Heiji quickly shot down the idea. "I get the feelin' that guy's kinda suspicious about me, so the less I talk ta him, the better. Not ta mention he goes ta school with _Koizumi_ , apparently. Who knows what that damn witch is tellin' him about me when I'm not around."

"Well, at the very least, I can tell you he's suspicious of you, Hattori." Conan told him. "It seems like he dropped by Ran's place before this, asking for me, and she told him that I was with you at the time, chasing a new lead."

Wincing a little, Heiji let out a long sigh. "Well, that can't be helped. It's not like Neechan knows not ta tell him stuff, an' it probably only worry her if we did tell her that." Pausing for a moment, a slightly suspicious look crossed his own face then. "Ya haven't told her, have ya? About Sunday's masquerade party?"

"I haven't." Conan told him plainly. "Though I don't see what the big deal is."

"Just don't tell her, Kudo." Heiji said. "Ya don't want her ta get mixed up with this, do ya?"

"No." Shaking his head, Conan knew that much. The further he kept Ran away from this kind of case, the better. "Don't worry, Hattori. I won't tell her anything. More than me, the one you should be worrying about is Kazuha-chan."

"Ah, ya don't have ta worry about Kazuha." Heiji said, tucking his hands into his pockets as he headed towards the door. "I already worked things out with her about the party. That's why we had ta meet up. Anyways, ya comin'?"

"I'm coming, but where do you plan on going?" Conan asked, glancing up towards him. There it was again- the distinct feeling that there was something Heiji wasn't telling him yet. The feeling that there was something that he had failed to realize.

What was that about? Though he tried to turn what he knew over in his head, he couldn't find the answer. Perhaps it was simply because he was dealing with things that he didn't fully understand- there were too many things that were out of his element involved in this case.

"Ta the police station, of course." Heiji told him. "I need ta pretend like I never saw either of those two scenes, right? Sides, there's a chance that they might have figured somethin' out."

"Pumping the other side for information?" Conan couldn't help but ask.

"Well, somethin' like that." With a slight shrug of his shoulders, Heiji flashed a grin down towards him. "Well, don't look at me that way, Kudo. Ya knew that a day like this might come eventually. It's not like I'm plannin' on lettin' the culprit off if I'm the one who catches 'em first. If anythin', they'd be gettin' off light if the police caught 'em."

"They murdered at least three people." Conan pointed out. "Seven, in two different countries, if they're really also behind the previous string of murders. I don't think they're going to be let off easy."

"Ya just say that cause ya don't know what fae folk consider ta be a punishment." Heiji noted. "If they're lucky, they'll get off with bein' slowly turned into a tree or somethin'. If they're not... well, my job here is ta bring 'em in, not ta give my opinion on how they should be handled. Doubt I'd be listened ta anyways."

"They didn't seem to think much of you." Conan couldn't help but note, forcing himself to bite back any other comments he wanted to make. "That fae queen, that is."

"Well, ya could say that." Heiji admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Either I'm too human, or I'm too much like my clan. Either way, I can't win."

"I don't mind it, you know." Conan noted. "The former, that is."

"Well, thank ya kindly!" The grin that resurfaced on his face then wasn't as strong as it usually was- though he masked it well, he could still see the strain etched onto Conan's face. It wasn't that hard to guess what he was thinking about right now. "What, ya worried I might take what she said back there seriously one day?"

_"You would do well to leave such mortals behind, Guardian, for you do not belong among their kind."_

"...it's crossed my mind." If there was one advantage to being this size, it was that he could easily conceal his expression from taller people by merely turning his head away from them. He didn't know quite what expression he was making right now- but he didn't think it was one that he wanted to show to Heiji.

Honestly, when had he gotten so used to the idea of having Heiji around? Half a year ago, he hadn't even known the guy. Now he couldn't imagine what he would do if Heiji decided to part from them. In front of him, he could be himself- truly himself, in a way that he couldn't be in front of either Ai, or even the Professor.

" _Idiot_ , ya don't have ta worry about somethin' like that!" Heiji told him, his grin growing all the brighter as he spoke. "I might not be one of ya, but that doesn't mean a damn thing! I happen ta like where I am right now just fine."

Well, even if said something like that, if something were to ever happen that would destroy the masquerade that he had been working so hard to protect... who knew what would happen then. Even if he wanted to, the choice of whether to stay or go might not be up to him.

"Or what? Don't tell me that ya'd miss me if I went somewhere out of yer reach, eh, eh~?" Leaning down so that he could take a gander at Conan's face, Heiji couldn't help but smile all the brighter at what he saw there- though his honest expression only lasted a moment longer, before the shrunken detective quickly covered it back up again.

"Shut up, idiot." Conan grumbled, shooting him a sour look. "Don't you have to go spy on the enemy?"

Letting out a burst of laughter, Heiji straightened up. "The enemy, huh? I guess yer not wrong though, Kudo. But are ya sure it's fine? Yer helpin' the enemy right now."

"More like I'm monitoring the enemy to make sure he doesn't get himself killed."


	22. There's a Song About Masquerades, But That Would be Almost Too Obvious a Title

"Kazuha-chan! Hattori-kun! Over here, over here!"

"Ran-chan!" Her voice filled with excitement, Kazuha wasted no time in closing the distance between herself and her friend, giving her a tight squeeze in greeting. "It's been awhile! Not since ya visited Osaka the last time!"

"Yes, it has." Ran said, nodding her head. "I was a little surprised that you didn't come along with Hattori-kun earlier this week, really."

"Well unlike some other _idiot_ I know, I try ta avoid skippin' school as much as possible." Kazuha quipped, her gaze flickering over towards Heiji, just in case he missed it. The glower that she earned from him was proof enough of that, and she couldn't help but let her grin grow as he opened his mouth to fire right back.

"Who's an _idiot_ , _idiot_? There's no way I can just sit back an' do nothin' when somethin' like this is goin' on!" Heiji retorted, arching a brow- before his gaze flickered down towards Conan, turning his glower down towards him. Judging from the way he flinched the moment he looked his way, at the very least, he seemed to realize why he was upset right now.

After all, he had _specifically_ told him not to tell Ran anything. And if she was here, greeting them at the station, then...

Watching the way Conan quickly shook his head, Heiji frowned, not entirely convinced that it hadn't slipped out somehow. It would be a problem, if Ran decided to accompany Conan to the masquerade party. It wasn't as if she thought he couldn't protect herself if things got dicey, but rather, it would just be plain, well... awkward, really.

Especially since she only knew a _part_ of the story. As for the rest... maybe it would be for the best if he didn't tell her. Although Kazuha was right in that the way she treated him really hadn't changed, there was a difference between learning someone could simply see ghosts, and learning that someone wasn't human. It was probably only his own self doubt fueling such thoughts- Mouri Ran really wasn't that kind of person, but even so...

He didn't want to see it. Someone he thought of as a friend freaking out about him, like she did whenever monsters were mentioned. As long as that fear was there, he wouldn't say anything.

"Is something the matter, Hattori-kun?" Feeling his gaze on her, Ran turned his way, frowning a little. "Are you still thinking about that case?"

"Ah, yeah. That's all." Heiji said, nodding his head, flashing her a grin anyways. It wasn't like it would be _Ran's_ fault if Conan told her about the masquerade party. "But ya don't have ta worry about anythin' Neechan! I get the feelin' I'll have the whole thing solved soon. Isn't that right, Kazuha?"

"...yeah." Casting him something of an uncertain glance, Kazuha tried not to dwell on it. She didn't like the fact that Heiji was being targeted, even less than she liked the fact that someone was trying to use her as bait for him. He acted as if it was no big deal, but there was no way it wasn't! "If ya say so Heiji, I'm sure ya will."

"I will, I will!" Heiji told her, grinning from ear to ear. "So? What are ya doin' here yerself, Neechan? Did the kid tell ya we were comin'? An' here I wanted it ta be a surprise!"

"Yeah, he did." Ran said, nodding her head. "He said something about the two of you coming to look at some of the sights that you missed the last time we took you on a tour of Tokyo."

"Oh, did he now?" Heiji asked, his gaze flickering down towards Conan once more. Well, that worked, he guessed. "Well, that's not wrong. Though it's more like Kazuha will be doin' the sightseein', rather than me. I've still got stuff ta deal with myself."

"About the case, right?" Ran asked, nodding her head. "I understand. But are you two sure? Conan-kun said that you'll be staying at a hotel this time, but the agency is always open for you two to spend the night in."

"It's fine, it's fine, Ran-chan!" Kazuha said quickly. That might make things a bit awkward, so as tempting as it was, it was best to avoid it. "A friend of Heiji's mom owns a hotel here, so they gave us a room fer half price!"

"Hattori-kun's mom seems to have all sorts of friends." Ran noted, blinking a little, before she smiled. "Then, I guess it can't be helped. I might be a bit lonely though, since we can't have a sleepover tonight."

"There's always next time! Besides, we can't always just freeload at yer place like that." Kazuha told her. "Don't ya need ta be goin' though, Heiji? Ya said ya gotta bunch of stuff ya still need ta do, right?"

"Ah, yer right." Heiji blinked, taking that as his signal to get lost. Well, he couldn't blame her- she was always a little annoyed when he got to see everyone in Tokyo when she couldn't, and he'd done it quite a bit lately, so of course she wanted to try and spend some time with Ran tonight before the party. "Then, ya wanna come with me, kiddo? I could use the help of my favorite assistant~!"

"Yeah, I'll come!" Fighting back the twitch that the assistant remark made him feel, Conan instead forced a bright smile on his face. Mostly one for the sole purpose of convincing Ran, who he knew wasn't the least bit found of this case. "Can I go with Heiji-niichan, Ran-neechan?"

"Mm..." Hesitating for a moment, Ran looked between the two of them. She didn't like the idea of sending Conan off to look into a case this grim, not really- but she imagined her chances of convincing him to stay away from it were rather slim now that he already had. At the very least, if he was with Heiji, she could feel somewhat confident that he would be looked after.

"I suppose you can. But mind what Hattori-kun says, okay?" Ran asked, before she paused, momentarily reconsidering her words. "And don't do anything he would."

" _What_ -!" Eyes going wide with shock, Heiji placed a hand over his heart. "What's that supposed ta mean, Neechan? Yer makin' it sound like I'm a dangerous guy, or somethin'!"

"Not dangerous, just a bad example sometimes." Ran said lightly, locking eyes with him, a subtle warning carried in her gaze. "I don't like this case one bit, Hattori-kun, so you have to promise me that you'll actually _watch_ Conan-kun and keep him out of danger. He's just a child, you know."

Biting back a comment that Conan was actually their age, Heiji merely gave her a broad smile, doing his best not to wither underneath her intense gaze. He had a very short list of people that he didn't want to make angry, and Ran was pretty much at the top of it. "I promise, I promise! Ya don't have ta worry about a thing, Neechan!"

"Well, if you say so." Ran said, heaving a sigh. "Then, I'll see you later, Conan-kun. Don't forget about your promise to go over to the Professor's though this evening."

"I won't!" Conan promised, before turning his attention towards Heiji. "Then, let's go, Heiji-niichan!"

And maybe, just _maybe_ , he could finally pry from the guy exactly what it was that he was planning.

* * *

"Um, Kazuha-chan, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Nodding her head, Kazuha frowned. Though she was the type to try and mask such things, she had come to more or less learn what a troubled Ran looked like. "Is something the matter, Ran-chan? Worried about Conan-kun, maybe?"

Well, as impulsive as he could be sometimes, she didn't doubt that Heiji would keep the kid safe. He did care for him quite a bit- and he tended to get rather protective of people he liked. Still, judging from Ran's expression, she was going to guess that wasn't actually the case here.

"Um, it might just be me, but is Hattori-kun mad at me or something?" Ran finally asked. "It's just... when he spotted me when you got off the train, he didn't look all that happy."

"Eh?" For a moment, taken by surprise by the question, all Kazuha could do was blink- before she quickly shook her head. Come to think of it, she had noticed that herself- but judging the quick way he had perked up, there was no way he was actually mad at her. He wasn't the type to bottle such things in... at least, not anymore.

"No, no, that's not it at all!" Kazuha told her. "Heiji's got no reason ta be mad at ya, Ran-chan! If there's anyone he's a bit angry right now, it's probably me. I think he might just be feelin' a bit awkward around ya right now, that's all."

Well, there was another reason that she could think of, and it had everything to do with the fact that Heiji had been pretty firm about not telling Ran about the masquerade party. He had claimed it was because he didn't want to get her involved, considering how afraid she could be of such things, but she got the feeling that there was another reason for it. And well, she could sort of understand what that other reason was.

To be frank, it was why she hadn't told her, in the end. It would be awkward for her too, if Ran found out about something like this!

"Awkward?" Ran blinked. "Why?"

"Ah, well that's..." Kazuha trailed off, her gaze flickering away from her. She didn't want Ran to get the wrong idea, and think that perhaps she was the source of some kind of fight between them. "He apparently found out that I told ya about... certain things. He got a bit mad at me fer it, even."

"Ah." A look of understanding dawning across her face, Ran frowned. "I see. I suppose that would make things a bit awkward. But is it fine, Kazuha-chan? You said Hattori-kun got angry at you."

"Yeah, but just fer a bit." Kazuha told her. "Well, I don't blame him either. It's not somethin' that he likes talkin' about all that much, really. It put him through a lot of problems in the past, ya see."

"But he doesn't have to feel awkward around me for that reason." Ran told her, shaking her head, giving her a smile. "Sure, it's a little surprising, like I said before, but it's not like it changes the way I think about him or anything like that. I like Hattori-kun, you know."

"Oh? Don't tell me yer givin' up on Kudo-kun, Ran-chan? If it's you, I'll share him!" Kazuha asked, a rather sly grin surfacing on her face, one that only grew at Ran's flustered reaction. Honestly, she just couldn't figure out what that Shinichi guy would just leave a good girl like Ran behind like this.

If he wasn't careful, she would snatch her up instead!

"No, no, that's not what I mean!" Pouting a little, Ran turned her head. "Geez, Kazuha-chan, don't tease me like that!"

"Sorry, sorry." Laughing a little, Kazuha drew back. "I couldn't help it."

"Then what about you, Kazuha-chan?" Ran asked, a sly grin of her own crossing her face, as she leaned a bit closer to the girl. "How are things with you and Hattori-kun? Have you gotten a bit closer since he's gotten more honest with you?"

Somehow, she got the feeling that it was a bit more than about being able to see ghosts, and having dreams of the future, but as to what that was, she didn't know. Nor was it really even her place to ask. The way that she'd caught Heiji looking at her back at the station... if anything, that had made it fully clear to her how uncomfortable he was with the idea of someone knowing things about himself that he would rather hide.

It didn't bother her though, really. Not what Heiji was hiding, nor the reason that he felt he needed to hide it. She only need to watch the expression Kazuha's face took on, and the tone her voice took, to know that his childhood had been everything but a rosy walk in the park. She could understand, why he might want to seal that part of himself off from other people.

It was a bit sad, though.

"Well... I guess ya could say that." Kazuha told her, this time, finding it was her turn to avert her gaze from her friend, her cheeks red. "But probably not in the way yer thinkin' of though, Ran-chan. Still, it's true that I have gotten closer ta him."

It wasn't as if her feelings for him had changed, or anything like that. But she couldn't lie, and claim that the revelation that Heiji wasn't human hadn't changed some things. Nothing major, but enough so that she needed to take a bit of time to really get to know him again- to get to know the side of himself that he had concealed from her all this time.

Once she did that, she could only imagine that she would love him all the more. She might not be able to stop herself from confessing, right away. Dangerous, dangerous indeed.

"Hmm." Sensing that there were things being unspoken here, Ran merely smiled, linking her fingers behind her back. So there really was something more to the story. But it was good- it was really good that he had opened up to Kazuha about it. She knew that if Shinichi were hiding some kind of secret like that, she would very much want him to open up to her about it. "I see. That's good, then."

"Yeah." Nodding her head, Kazuha smiled. "It really is."

* * *

"You're planning something, aren't you, Hattori?"

"Yeah, I am." The answer came so quickly, that Conan had to clean out his ears, wondering if he'd heard him right. After all the dancing around and lying he'd done before, he didn't expect to get an honest answer from him that fast, nor that directly. In a way, it wasn't out of character for him at all, but at the same time...

"I didn't expect you to actually _admit_ it." Conan confessed after a moment, almost regretting his words as he watched a huge smile blossom across Heiji's face. Bastard, he was actually having fun with this!

"There's nothin' wrong with tellin' ya that much!" Heiji told him, grinning all the wider as he tucked his hands into his pockets. "But I'm not gonna tell ya what it is~! After all, yer the enemy right now, Kudo!"

"The enemy, huh?" Letting out a rather dry laugh, Conan merely let out a long sigh. "Well, don't do anything risky, Hattori. Keep in mind, that if the culprit really plans on using Kazuha-chan as bait, it's not just your life that's in danger."

" _Idiot_ , I know that!" Heiji told him, taking a few quick steps forward, least his face reveal too much. Well, the other reason he wasn't telling him too much about the plan was because he wanted to see the expression on his face when he realized it- Neechan was one thing, but he kind of actually _wanted_ Kudo to find out!

"Really?" Conan asked, his tone somewhat unconvinced. "Is your plan really so good that you can act like you're not worried about Kazuha-chan at all?"

"Yeah, it's perfect!" Heiji told him. "This way, not only will I be able ta bag the culprit fer sure, but I can make sure that Kazuha will be safe and sound!"

And that she wouldn't have to learn the truth.

He wouldn't let her learn it. She didn't need to know. Because if she learned the truth, the only thing it would cause her was pain. He didn't want to see that. More than anything else, he didn't want to see that.

The worst part was that he knew his own words would be unable to comfort her in such a situation. He would try, of course he would- but really, if the words weren't coming from a human, they were kind meaningless. She would realize that- she would realize that, and in that moment, she would probably only cause herself more pain, by lashing out with it, and causing herself regret.

He didn't want to see that.

He didn't want to see it, and he didn't want to hurt her. Therefore, he would bury the truth, for the rest of her life.

Where a detective's strongest ally was the truth, in the end, it was something that would never be his own. He lived in a world where lies were necessary- be it to keep the peace between humans, and that which lived just beyond their world, or to protect the innocence of someone who had been used as a puppet by a foul curse, not of their own doing. Without lies, the masquerade would have fallen apart long ago.

Even if there were times when he thought that it might not be that bad, really. A world where he didn't have to hide anything... wouldn't that be wonderful?

But he couldn't have that. He had been born into this world to protect that very thing, after all- as a Guardian, it was duty to see to it that the things in this world that needed to remain unknown, remained as such.

But it wasn't his duty as a Guardian that made him want to keep Kazuha's truth from her. It was something much more simple than that, a role that he had filled for much longer.

His duty as her childhood friend.

* * *

_"If I told you that Hattori-kun isn't working in the interest of the police this time, what would you do, Hakuba-kun?"_

The last thing he wanted to admit was the fact that Akako's words had been haunting him ever since he'd first heard them. He hadn't thought he was that interested in whatever it was that Hattori Heiji was doing behind the scenes, but as it would turn out, he was apparently rather mistaken in that. If anything, it had become almost just as troublesome for him as his current case was.

A case, that while having produced no further victims yet past the first three, was still, frustratingly, unsolved. He couldn't say that he wasn't grateful for the fact that no more bodies had turned up, but at the same time, he had to wonder if the only reason why no more had been found yet was simply because nobody had come across them yet.

At the very least, there had been no outwardly suspicious reports of missing persons, however... he just couldn't rest easy. The idea that even now, such a vicious murderer might still be out there, was nearly enough to keep him awake at night.

The mystery of Hattori Heiji, thankfully, wasn't _quite_ as such.

The fact that he was quite certain Heiji had been avoiding him ever since they crossed paths at the Professor's place was surely no coincidence. If anything, it confirmed the fact that he had something to hide- and was furthermore, aware that he had some suspicions regarding him. He knew that it surely must have something to do with the strange developments relating to the case they had ended up working together before this, as well as his knowledge of things involving this case that he simply should not have access to. But as to what that might be...

How was it that he had managed to make the entire crime, or at the very least, the entrance to it, scene simply disappear? While it was possible that Kaito might have lied about not being able to see through the trick, Hakuba himself had tested where the door had once been later, only to confirm that, indeed, it was no longer there. Not to mention, the state of the room once the door had seemingly reappeared...

It was mystery upon mystery. He'd tried to pry Akako for further information, but she was proving rather tightlipped now. He doubted that he would get anything more from her- or from Kaito, for that matter, since the magician usually made his best effort of avoiding him, and was unlikely to tell him the truth even if he knew about it.

The fact that he had earned Professor Clarke's almost instant interest bothered him as well. It wasn't simply because a man he respected greatly had taken a shine to someone that he very much did not care for- he wasn't so petty as that, he decided. Perhaps it was the odd line that he had spoken at that time that bothered him- something about an _unusual aura_ , or along those lines.

He'd always known that the Professor was something of an eccentric in that regard, and was under the belief that not everything that he studied wasn't true. Such a comment in and of itself wasn't unusual to hear from him- but the fact that it had been directed at the Osakan detective bothered him. Especially considering the fact that _Heiji_ was the one laying suspicion at the feet of his students.

That Professor Clarke would take in anyone under his wing that would commit such a heinous act... he simply couldn't believe. But if that was the case, then he would pursue them without mercy nevertheless. They had certainly shown no such thing to their victims.

Not to mention, there was also the fact that the Professor claimed that he had invited Heiji to the masquerade party as well. He could tell that the man was speaking a lie, knowing that look in his eyes- he didn't doubt that Heiji had received an invitation to the party somehow, but it hadn't been through him. If not him, then who?

The culprit, perhaps.

But the Professor _had_ been speaking the truth when he told him that he'd sent an invitation to him himself. So why then, would the culprit only single out Heiji? If they had known that he was working on the case, they must have known that others were involved as well. Did he perhaps have some kind of connection to this case?

For a moment, he found himself briefly entertaining the notion that _Heiji_ might be on the list of their potential victims, but quickly dismissed it. Thus far, all the victims had been women, and he had no reason to suspect that this trend would end. Aside from that, they hadn't even determined any kind of real link between the three current victims- the third one, as it turned out, hadn't even attended any of the Professor's lectures.

It wasn't enough to say that the previous link between them meant nothing, but it did make her something of an outlier. It had been the same way before as well- only the first victim had any connection to the Professor, so this was hardly unexpected.

Well, he supposed that he would have a chance to ask the person himself at tonight's party. Since they would both be going, there was no way that Heiji could manage to avoid him the entire time. He doubted that putting the pressure on him would work, given his personality, and he'd rather avoid having to deal with such a confrontation at a rather high class social event.

But he _was_ a detective, and he was rather skilled at what it was that he did. He need not be told the truth to learn it. Whatever it was that Hattori Heiji was hiding, he would bring it out into the open.

If it were something that put him up against the law, whatever the reason, then all the more so. A detective was, after all, a servant of the law- even those of the high school variety were no exception. If the high school detective of the west was somehow throwing his lot in against the police, then regardless of his circumstances, it was his duty to put a stop to it.

* * *

"I still want ya take it, ya know."

The suddenness of the statement took him off guard, for a moment, leaving him wondering as to what _it_ she was referring to. Glancing up slightly from his seated position, Heiji blinked, only needing to look into her eyes to know what it was she was speaking of. "Oh, ya mean the charm, right?"

"That's right. I don't like this idea, ya know, sendin' ya into danger like this. Ya should at least take it with ya." Pouting a little, Kazuha pushed his head back down. "An' _stay still_ , Heiji. If ya keep movin' around, this is just goin' take even longer."

"Geez, ya don't have ta worry about somethin' like that." Allowing Kazuha to move his head back down again, Heiji could only smile, the image reflected back in the mirror. "I've done this sort of thing before, ya know. An' it's not like I won't have a charm with me!"

"It's not the same!" Kazuha insisted, puffing out her cheeks. In hindsight, she should have brought this up a little bit earlier- since it had been on her mind for awhile, after all. As it was now... it was a bit awkward, really. "If it's not the one I made fer ya, it won't work!"

"Even if ya say that..." Trailing off a little, Heiji merely heaved a sigh. "Alright, alright. I get it, Kazuha. I'll be good, an' take it with me, if yer gonna fuss about it that much."

"Good." Nodding her head, a bright smile crossed her face- one that quickly soured as a thought entered her head. "But wait a second, Heiji! Ya've been actin' like it's a useless trinket all this time, even though ya've been runnin' around my back fer just as long actin' like some kind of _magic crimes detective_. Are ya sayin' my charm just isn't good as anythin' ya could make?"

"That's not it. I'm not even good at that sort of thing ta begin with." Heiji confessed to her. "Just because I can use magic, doesn't mean I'm good at all of it. I'm lousy when it comes ta actually makin' wards an' charms. If I want them, I usually have ta buy 'em."

"Eh, ya can buy 'em!? Wards?" Kazuha asked, before quickly shaking her head, realizing that she was about to get off topic. "Ah, no, no, forget I said that. We can talk about that later. More importantly, Heiji, my charm, my charm! Was that all part of yer act too?"

"Ah... well..." Trailing off a little, Heiji's hand strayed up towards his cheek, only to be swatted away by Kazuha before he could scratch it. Casting a rather sour look of his own back at her, he let out a sigh. "I guess ya could say it was part of that. I kind of felt that if I acted like I believed in any of that stuff outwardly, people would start thinkin' I was weird again."

"So... well, sorry, I guess."

Letting out a long sigh, Kazuha felt her shoulders slump a little. While it was true that she didn't like the idea of him lying to her, it must have been rough for him as well. To have to bottle everything up like this, to have to call his own self a liar, even to those who had always cared for him... it couldn't be easy. Sure, he'd been able to change himself as a result, but when she thought about how there was a chance that gap could open up between him and everyone else again if they learned of his past, it was kind of...

A bit hard to bear.

She could only hope that she was wrong about that, but realistically speaking, she didn't think she was. If it were that easy, then Heiji would have never had to go through things like that in the first place. If it were that easy, then... _that incident_ would have never happened.

"Ya don't have ta apologize fer somethin' that's already in the past, ya _idiot_." Kazuha noted. "An' when ya say it lookin' like _that_ , it's just plain weird."

"Wow, so much fer bein' my understandin' childhood friend." The offense in his voice and expression alike were clearly of the mock variety- and in spite of herself, Kazuha found herself smiling. "I thought ya said ya never thought of me as weird."

"Well I didn't say I ever thought ya were _normal_ either. Ya've always been odd, fer so long as I've known ya!" Kazuha pointed out, her tone light. "But that's got nothin' ta do with the fact that yer made of magic."

"Hey now, part of me is flesh too!" Heiji protested.

"I know." Kazuha said simply, closing her eyes. She didn't like it, in the end- not the idea that the murderer was targeting him, nor the idea that he had thrown himself into other dangerous situations before this one. Once this all was over, the two of them were going to have a good long talk, about everything. "Ya'd better take good care of that part tonight, Heiji."

"Now then," quickly changing the topic, a rather stern expression set itself upon Kazuha's face. "...stop movin' around already, otherwise I'll never finish, Heiji."

"Yes, yes."

* * *

"He's late, that Hattori."

Grumbling a little as he once more checked his watch, Conan cast another frustrated glance towards the entrance of the hotel. He had said not to tell anyone, so he had come here alone, like he promised, but he could already feel the odd looks that he was getting, from people who were wondering where his parents were. It wasn't like he could go into the party by himself, not when they had agreed to meet up in the lobby beforehand.

He still didn't know what Heiji's plan was, bringing Kazuha to a dangerous place like this. Given how protective he could be of her, he was surprised that he had let her come at all. Even if he wanted to keep her in the dark about his own life being targeted, it wasn't as if he could think of another reason to convince her not to come.

He didn't think he was the type to use his own childhood friend as bait, not when the stakes were this high. He couldn't say for sure if someone who was willing to go so far as to melt their victim's faces off with acid would care about preserving the life of a hostage that they had taken. While his victims weren't human, they sure _looked_ enough like them, which to him, was frankly all that mattered.

That, and the fact that they likely thought themselves human as well. Even if there was an issue with changelings, the one responsible for it weren't the changelings themselves, really, but the ones who had exchanged them in the first place. Casting the blame on them for something that they likely had been too young to have a say in was pointless, and murdering them for it was downright cruel.

Granted, that was the perspective of someone who knew very little about _that_ world. But he didn't think he was wrong. Probably, Heiji would agree with him.

Still, that guy... where the hell was he?

"Conan-kun!"

Not Heiji's voice, but he didn't doubt that he was alongside it's owner, Conan thought. Letting out a long sigh, he turned in the direction of the person who had called out to him, his mouth half open to call out their name, before he stopped, having to do a bit of a double take.

"Kazuha-neechan?" He asked, glancing around, wondering if he was just lagging behind somewhere. He didn't seem like the type, to care for events like this after all, even if he had a reason for coming here. "Where's Heiji-niichan?"

Judging from the way Kazuha didn't appear surprised to see him here by himself, Heiji must have already told her he was coming. He had probably instructed her not to tell Ran either, come to think of it. He couldn't imagine how he had rationalized it, having Conan come along with them to a place that could possibly be dangerous, without even Ran to watch over him, but it would appear that for the moment, Kazuha had accepted it.

Come to think of it, he didn't really have that many chances to interact with Kazuha while it was just the two of them. If Heiji wasn't around, then Ran usually was.

"That _idiot_ , ya mean?" Folding her arms in front of her chest, Kazuha let out a long sigh. "He said he still had somethin' left ta do with the case, so he told me ta go on ahead an' meet ya here. Didn't he call ya?"

"He didn't." Conan said, shaking his head, quickly composing himself, concealing the expression of pure befuddlement that had set itself upon his face. Not only was he bringing her straight into what was likely to be the culprit's trap, but now he was also _abandoning_ her? Sure, Kazuha could more than handle herself, but they didn't know what the culprit was capable of- or even who they were.

They had a few ideas, of course- without a doubt, the culprit was probably one of Professor Clarke's four students. The fact that the party that they had been invited to was in his honor was probably no coincidence. They most likely wanted to erase Heiji before he had a chance to determine their identity, turning him into another one of their faceless corpses.

It was a thought that frankly made him shudder.

"I thought not." Kazuha noted, heaving another sigh. "Judgin' from the way he ran off in a hurry, he probably got himself a nice tip or somethin' like that. He's so easy ta read, that guy."

"Eh? A tip?" Conan blinked, perking up at the mention. "Did he get a phone call before he left, or some kind of text maybe?"

"Yeah, he did." Kazuha said, nodding her head. "Got a pretty annoyed look on his face once he did. That's why I think it was some kinda tip."

If that was the case, he could make a guess as to what that tip might be. Had another body turned up? If that Koizumi Akako girl had contacted him with more information, it was possible that he had also gone to meet her- but it would probably be best not to tell Kazuha something like that. Either way, that guy... sure, it was true that he wouldn't let anything happen to Kazuha on his watch, was he _seriously_ telling him to do it entirely by himself?

Actually, come to think of it... though he had told him that he'd told Kazuha the truth about himself, he couldn't recall if he'd mentioned telling her the truth behind this _case_. She wasn't an idiot, of course, and she probably had some idea that it wasn't a normal one, just based off how he was acting.

"Is somethin' wrong, Conan-kun?" Kazuha blinked, peering down at him. Pausing to adjust her skirt a bit first, she crouched down in front of him, resting her clutch on her knees. "Looks like yer probably gonna be my escort tonight, huh?"

"Seems like it." Conan told her, giving her a small smile. "But Kazuha-neechan, did Heiji-niichan perhaps tell you..."

"Not ta worry, he told me _all_ about it~!" Kazuha told him, a rather irritated expression crossing her face. "That _idiot_ , tryin' ta hide somethin' that important from me! He even tried ta act like it was no big deal! Does he really expect me ta just say nothin' when he tells me that some weird serial killer is targetin' his life?"

"Kazuha-neechan, not so loud!" Putting a finger to his lips, Conan quickly hushed her, gaze darting around to make sure no one had heard that. Heaving a sigh of relief when it seemed that no one had, he frowned. So it would appear that Heiji had told her that he was one of the targets, at the very least.

Even if he hadn't outright told her that she had been invited here as bait for him, Kazuha was smart enough to figure that out on her own. He couldn't decide which idea bothered her more- that Heiji had been keeping something like that from her, or that someone had the audacity to think they could use _her_ as bait.

"Ah, sorry." Quickly apologizing, Kazuha's gaze darted around the lobby, letting out a small sigh of her own once she realized nobody was paying that much attention to them. "But Heiji did say that he'll catch up with us once he's done, an' that we should go ahead an' go ta the party. Did he tell ya who he wanted ya ta keep an eye on, Conan-kun?"

"Yeah." Nodding his head, biting back a comment that he didn't _need_ Heiji to tell him anything, Conan smiled at her. "It's probably one of the four students of the professor that this party is being held in honor of. Apparently he likes masquerades."

"I see." Nodding her head, Kazuha frowned a little. "But honestly, that Heiji, dumpin' this kind of job on a kid, an' not even invitin' Ran-chan along."

"Apparently Hakuba-niichan is going to be here too." Conan told her, almost kind of regretting it once he did. He knew that Kazuha probably didn't have that great of an impression of him, not based on what Heiji had doubtlessly told her about him, but he had clearly underestimated just how _little_ she cared for him. The distaste was clear as day on her face.

"That Hakuba guy, huh? If he tries ta start somethin' with Heiji again, I'll-"

"Now, now, Kazuha-neechan." Quickly cutting her off, Conan gave her something of an awkward smile. "We have a party to get to, don't we?"

"Ah, that's right." Cutting off her trail of thought, Kazuha blinked. "Then, in that case, let's go, Conan-kun. Be careful not ta leave my side, okay? Since Ran-chan's not here, I'm goin' ta watch ya in her place."

Biting back a comment that _he_ was the one who needed to do the watching today, Conan simply nodded. "Yeah, I got it! You don't have to worry about me, Kazuha-neechan!"

"Good." Nodding her head, Kazuha rose to her feet, pulling the mask that she had brought with her out of her clasp. "I've never been to a masquerade party before, so I'm a bit excited!"

Biting back yet another remark, wondering how she could manage to be excited even under these circumstances, Conan merely gave her another smile. Well, she and Heiji could be rather alike, after all- what he could expect from him, he could, to some degree, expect from her as well.

Still, it was odd... there was a nagging feeling that something was a bit off here. He couldn't quite place it though, and decided that pondering over it too much wouldn't do him any good. He had to focus- if the culprit really did want to use Kazuha as bait, there was no doubt that they would make a move that would give themselves away. And when they did... not only would he be there to stop it, but he'd also know where to start looking.

It wasn't so much that he wanted a chance to get the jump on Heiji, though he surely had the chance to now. One way or another, this chain of murderers needed to be brought to an end- hopefully before more victims were created.

Before one of those victims could be one of his own friends.

Although, come to think of it... it had been awhile since he last saw Kazuha wearing her charm around her neck. Taking that as a sign that she was actually a bit more worried than she let on, Conan promised himself that he wouldn't take his eyes off of her.

And that he'd also chew Heiji out later for running off at a time like this. _Honestly_ , that guy. What could possibly be more important than trying to protect the girl he loved?


	23. Fooling Your Friends to Fool Your Enemies is Not Only Effective, But Also Fun

"Of course, this is my escort~!"

Not making much of an effort to disguise his displeasure at being hoisted into the air, Conan muttered a silent complaint underneath his breath as he found himself dangled in Kazuha's arms. For some reason, he always found himself thinking that she would manhandle him a little less than her childhood friend, even though every time, he was proven wrong.

"Ah, well, that's..." The person checking invitations could only look up at them, and then back down at the pair of invitations that he had been presented. His expression made it clear that he was racking his brain as to whether or not something like this was allowed- the invitations had only specified that boy girl pairs were required, not anything in regards to their relative ages.

"Is there somethin' wrong with him?" Not doing much to mask her displeasure, in spite of her literal domino mask, Kazuha pursed her lips together. "He might be little, but Conan-kun here is responsible!"

Letting out a long sigh, the man decided that this clearly wasn't worth it, and that it was better to give in. "Very well, then." He said, handing back their invitations and stepping aside. "Since it seems the young man has an invitation from the Professor himself, I'll allow it."

"Thank you~!" Beaming from ear to ear, Kazuha stepped into the party hall, only placing Conan back down once they had gotten inside. "There, see? It was no trouble at all! Ya were worried fer nothin', Conan-kun."

"No, I seriously didn't think that would work." Conan said, a rather incredulous expression on his face. Usually, around Kazuha, he would be a little more contained... but there was something about today that made it feel a bit harder to. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that this was a masquerade, and by virtue of the masks, people's expressions were much harder to make out, if they could be seen at all.

"Oh ye of little faith." Kazuha told him, carefully tucking away her invitation into her clutch. "Now then, how about ya introduce me ta this Professor that he mentioned? He helped Heiji a bit with this case, right? I'm kind of curious about what kind of person he might be!"

"Professor Clarke, you mean?" Conan asked, pausing to adjust his jacket a bit, feeling a bit silly in his mask, really. "Sure, I don't mind. But what is Heiji-niichan planning on doing when he gets here? I doubt they'll let him in by himself, and I don't think the guard would let you claim another escort."

"Don't worry, don't worry." Flashing him a smile, Kazuha all but waved aside his concern. "I'm sure Heiji has an idea. He's, ya know... good at gettin' into places without people noticin'."

Well... that was certainly true, Conan had to admit, his thoughts drifting back towards the sight of Heiji climbing out of a mirror. With that kind of ability, he could probably go almost anywhere he wanted to, in a near instant. Really, it was for the best that he was a detective, and was on his side- he would hate to have someone like that for an enemy.

Or well, a more traditional, serious enemy. Even if they were somewhat working on opposite sides this time, in the end, their goals were roughly the same- see to it that the culprit behind this chain of serial murderers was stopped, caught, and punished accordingly. The only difference was _who_ they were working for.

Although from the way Kazuha was beating around the bush there, it was clear to him that Heiji hadn't yet told her that he knew. Knowing that guy, he'd probably mentioned that he'd told Kudo Shinichi, and neglected to mention that he had also told Edogawa Conan- they were one and the same in his mind, after all.

"Well, if you say so, Kazuha-neechan!" Deciding to leave it at that, for the time being, Conan merely gave her a smile. "But you wanted to meet the Professor, right? Are you sure? If one of his students really is the culprit..."

"It's fine." Kazuha said, giving him a smile, stooping down to ruffle his hair. "I have ya around ta protect me, right? Besides, I'll have ya know, I'm not _that_ easy ta catch! That time with the lawyer was special! I might not be as tough as Ran-chan, but I'm nothin' ta sneeze at either!"

"That's true." Conan admitted, nodding his head. If it were just the two of them, there was a chance that the culprit might let something slip- and the sooner he could figure out which one of them it was that he needed to keep an eye on, the better. "Then, let's go, Kazuha-neechan. I think I saw him over there, in the center of the room."

"A fittin' place ta find the star of the party, I guess." Kazuha noted, peering in that direction herself. "Here, my hand. Ya might get lost, in a crowd like this!"

"I won't." Conan grumbled, reaching up to take her hand anyways. For a moment, it almost felt as if there was a hint of amusement in her expression as he did so, but given how quickly it faded, it was probably only just his imagination. "I said I would keep an eye on you for Heiji-niichan, right? I'm not about to wander off."

"I didn't say that ya would wander off. I said that ya would get lost!" Kazuha pointed out, making her way towards the middle of the room.

Even though the party had already started, there were already plenty of guests in the hall. In a way, it almost made him nervous. To top everything off, it was a masquerade party, making it that much harder to identify people at a glance. These weren't ideal circumstances, and he could only hope that Heiji would finish with whatever lead he had, and hurry back. With two sets of eyes on Kazuha, he could relax a bit more.

Actually, come to think of it... why was it that Kazuha was the only one who might become bait? The culprit had seen him together with Heiji before, and if they had researched the people he hung out with well enough to know that Kazuha was important to him, shouldn't he have come up at the same time? It was hardly a secret that the two of them were friends, after all, so...

As he thought, there was something about this that didn't fit after all. He'd had an uneasy feeling that was the case ever since Heiji had first told him about the case, but was it possible that he was still keeping something from him? He'd thought that they had agreed to share information, at least in so far as catching the culprit went, so if he really was still keeping something from him, then why...?

"Conan-kun?" Kazuha's voice broke him from his thoughts, and he quickly took notice of the frown on her face. "What is it? Is somethin' wrong?"

"Ah, no." Shaking his head, Conan forced a smile on his face. "It's really nothing, Kazuha-neechan. Now then, shall we go greet Professor Clarke?"

For some reason, he got the strangest feeling that this wasn't something that he should bring up with Kazuha. Perhaps it was that very realization that triggered the cold sweat that crawled down his neck, his thoughts just teetering on a possibility that hadn't yet occurred to him.

But if something like that were really true, then...

Sienna Radcliff, Aoi Gorman, Duncan Brun, and Irving Greene.

If even one of them had shown an unusual reaction upon being introduced to Kazuha, then their mask concealed it. Perhaps it was to be expected- if they had remained uncaught for so long, it wasn't likely that they would slip up here, not when they likely were already aware they were under suspicion.

It was frustrating, but as long as they didn't have anything more than vague circumstantial evidence, they wouldn't be able to do anything. After the third victim turned out to have no connection to any of Professor Clarke's lectures, the idea that the murders were somehow related to them had been shelved for the moment.

However, like Heiji, he felt certain that they were on the right track. It probably was no coincidence that the culprit had sent Kazuha an invitation to a party that was being held in the Professor's honor. There was something here, and until it could be proven beyond a shadow of doubt that all four of them were innocent, he would continue to pursue this avenue. At the moment, it was the best lead that he had.

If it turned out to be for naught, he would be back at square one. As a result, more people would be murdered- and that was something he wanted to avoid under all circumstances. No one, human or otherwise, deserved to be murdered, and no matter how justified the culprit probably thought they were, there was no justification for taking someone's life.

Rather, if there was anyone who had reacted to meeting Kazuha, it had been Professor Clarke himself, though faintly. It was in the way his fingers had twitched when she had introduced herself, a look that danced through his eyes in that instant. Realization, understanding, Conan thought... but of what?

If it really were like he was slowly starting to suspect, then given his earlier reaction to Heiji, it was possible that it might be something only the old man could tell. If that really were the case, it caught his attention- but at the same time, if he had a direct connection to the case, it almost seemed like that would be something Heiji would pick up on much quicker.

The culprit was after Heiji's life, after all. He wouldn't have missed the chance to target Heiji when he was alone with him, if that really were the case, especially not if he had any idea what he was. All the more so because he'd shown up on his doorstep, in connection with the case, trying to solve it's mystery. It was hard to think that they would have passed up such a chance.

Fighting the urge to scratch his head in frustration, Conan could only wish that Heiji was here. If he was, then he could ask him about what he suspected. Even if he didn't say it out loud, or lied to him, he'd probably be able to tell by just his expression alone. It was true that he was learning all sorts of things about him lately, but a mask alone wouldn't be enough to conceal what he was thinking from him.

Well... if it really was true though, he could sort of understand why it was that he didn't tell him about it. Even _he_ didn't want to believe that such a thing could be the case, that the Kazuha he knew was actually...

"Geez, there ya go again, Conan-kun." Kazuha's voice broke his thoughts once more, the girl pursing her lips together. "The Professor was tryin' ta say somethin' ta ya, ya know."

"Ah, sorry!" As silly as he felt in it, he was perhaps a bit grateful for the mask he wore. "What was it that you wanted, Professor Clarke?"

"I was simply wondering if you had seen little Saguru around." Professor Clarke told him, his smile unwavering even at the faint snort that seemed to worm it's way out from Kazuha. Glancing up towards her, the girl quickly averted her gaze from him, clearly trying to pretend that she hadn't just laughed.

...that was a bit odd.

"Ah, Hakuba-niichan?" Conan asked, shaking his head. "I haven't seen him yet. I had heard that he was invited as well, though. Maybe he's with Heiji-niichan?"

The idea of the two of them being left alone together wasn't one that he liked. Still, if Heiji really was following a lead, then at the very least, he'd probably do his best to behave.

"Ah yes, that could be the case." Giving him a rather sage nod, Professor Clarke turned his attention back towards Kazuha. "Now then, young miss, I hope you enjoy the masquerade party. The chef at this hotel is quite good, so if the ballroom dancing isn't quite to your speed, I'm sure you'll quite enjoy the feast."

"I don't really know how ta ballroom dance in the first place, really." Kazuha quickly said. For a moment, after she had spoken, she seemed to tense, causing Conan to wonder if something was perhaps wrong. He only had to look behind him to realize what the cause of it was, and found himself letting out a breath as he realized it was nothing serious.

"If you're not familiar with ballroom dancing, I wouldn't mind being your lead, young miss." Placing a hand over his chest, Hakuba's smile was rather polite, giving off an air as if he was very much in his natural environment here. "When it comes to that sort of thing, I happen to be rather skilled."

Out of the corner of his eye, Conan could have swore that he saw Kazuha bracing herself for the conversation ahead. Blinking a little, he couldn't help but wonder at that. He knew that Heiji probably hadn't told Kazuha very good things about Hakuba, so she really had no reason to like him, but to that level... that really was a bit odd, after all.

"Ah, no, that's fine, ya don't need ta do somethin' like that. I've never been much of one fer dancin' anyways." Turning on her heel, Kazuha's grip tightened on her clutch, as if she were taking out whatever negative emotions she was feeling at the moment on it. Conan almost felt sorry for the poor thing. "Yer Hakuba Saguru, aren't ya? I don't know if ya remember me, but we've already met once before."

"Once before?" Hakuba seemed to blink, a slight frown crossing his features. Now that she mentioned it, even with the mask, she seemed to be a bit familiar, but where was it...?

Actually, one moment- wasn't that Conan with her? If that was the case, then...

"Could you possibly be that girl who was with Hattori-kun the one time?" Hakuba asked finally. "I recall that you were there on the boat that came to fetch us from that island. If I recall, it was Kazuha, was it not?"

"Toyama Kazuha." Kazuha told him, nodding her head. "Conan-kun here was just introducin' me ta the Professor this party is bein' held fer. Right, Conan-kun?"

"That's right." Conan said, nodding his head. "Is there any chance that you spotted Heiji-niichan on your way here, Hakuba-niichan?"

"Hattori-kun?" Hakuba blinked. "Is he not with you?"

"No, he had something to do before coming here, apparently." Conan told him, shaking his head, trying to cover the way his gaze flickered back behind him. For the most part, the Professor's students seemed to be engaged in conversation with themselves, but at the same time, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were watching them closely. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to narrow down the exact source of the gaze- it didn't seem as if it was going to be that easy.

"But I see, I guess if you haven't seen him, he must still be wrapped up in whatever that is." Conan finished. "He did say he would come join us when he was done, though."

"I see." Hakuba mused, placing a hand on his chin. "Would it perhaps be about the case?"

"That's right. He ran off somewhere in a hurry, sayin' somethin' had come up all of a sudden. That idiot probably got some kind of tip or somethin' like that." Kazuha interjected, folding her arms in front of her chest. Conan's gaze couldn't help but flicker to the charm that she wore around her neck as she did so, his brows slightly furrowing.

"A tip?" Hakuba asked. "Is there any chance that he said what it might be?"

"No. He didn't say anythin'. From the sound of what I've heard about the case this time, I just have ta hope it's not another one of those creepy corpses." Letting a shiver run up her spine, Kazuha's face grew a bit pale. "Whoever is behind this, they must be quite the _monster_."

If he weren't watching her, Conan might have missed it- the way her gaze flickered backwards as she spoke, without so much as turning her head. Was she watching the students as well? Or was her comment meant to rile them up? The stress that she had placed on the word _monster_ placed that as a strong possibility, but in that case, how much was it that she knew about this case?

To use that specific turn of phrase... no, there was no doubt, she was trying to provoke the culprit. Though it was true that she and Heiji had quite a bit in common, that seemed a bit reckless, even for her. Unless, perhaps, this too was something that she had planned with Heiji?

No... something about that didn't seem quite right. He was still missing something here.

"Monster is a fitting word for it." Hakuba noted, nodding his head. "But we shouldn't speak of such grisly subjects in a place like this. This is a party, after all. The topics should be much lighter."

"I guess that's true." Kazuha noted. "But as fer yer offer of teachin' me how ta dance, I must refuse, Hakuba-kun. I'm afraid that if I did somethin' that disagreeable, I might not have the stomach left ta enjoy the delicious feast the Professor mentioned."

"Disagree-?" It was as if Hakuba couldn't decide to bristle at or be shocked by her callous words, which in a way, was almost a bit amusing. Kazuha didn't grant him a chance to, instead taking Conan's hand, a bright smile on her face that almost seemed to tinge into an expression that he knew from elsewhere.

...oi, oi, it couldn't actually be that...?

* * *

"...you're Hattori, aren't you?"

"What gave me away?" Pausing to lick one of her fingers, getting the juice from the berry tart she had just eaten off of it, Kazuha's gaze flickered down in his direction. "I thought I was doin' a pretty good impression of her."

"Kazuha-chan doesn't lick food off of her fingers, for one thing." Conan pointed out, his incredulous tone and expression perfectly matching. "Seriously, what are you even doing?"

"Actin' as bait."

The reply was so simple, it was almost infuriating, in a way. Of all of the... he had been aware that Heiji had been planning something, and for awhile now, but he hadn't suspected that it would be something like _this_! Every time he felt as if he were getting somewhat used to the idea of what Heiji was, he kept doing things like this. At this point, he was almost half convinced he was doing it on purpose.

"I realize that, but you're-!" Conan began, letting out a long sigh, his shoulders slumping. It wasn't that hard to guess what was going on here, considering what he had already been told in the past. "So? Where's the real one, then?"

"Back at the hotel, bein' watched by a few of my shikigami." With a grin that he would know anywhere as Heiji's, the imposter Kazuha turned on their heel to face them. "There was no way I could let Kazuha face this kind of danger. Of course I wasn't goin' ta let her go."

Heaving a long, exasperated sigh, Conan felt a hand stray up to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. In hindsight, perhaps he should have expected something like this, and it wasn't as if it was even the first time he'd dealt with someone using a face and voice that wasn't their own either.

Still, for Heiji to be the one doing it... there was a part of him that just wanted to go home right now, and go to sleep. This was far too much for him to deal with during one evening, on top of trying to solve a case that involved even more things that he didn't entirely want to deal with.

"So, does she know?" Conan asked, forcing himself to look back up. "Kazuha-chan, that is?"

"Of course she knows!" Narrowing their eyes, what he had accepted now was actually Heiji almost sounded a bit offended. "Did ya think I was just gonna knock her out or somethin' like that? I'm not that kind of guy, Kudo!"

"I mean, you _do_ technically have history." Conan told him.

"Ya say that, but ya went along with it. An' it was only that one time!" Placing their hands on their hips, Heiji merely gave him something of an annoyed expression. "Don't compare me ta someone like that Kaitou Kid guy."

"I wasn't, you did that yourself." Conan pointed out, arching a brow. "...But if you could do something like this all along, why did you do such a lousy job of dressing up as me back at the cultural festival?"

"Like I said, I don't use magic fer that sorta thing." Heiji told him, letting out a small sigh. "Besides, it's not like I'm _perfect_ at this sort of thing. I've known Kazuha ever since we were in diapers, so she's one thing, but if I got caught posin' as ya, it would be hard ta explain why my disguise wasn't somethin' that could just be wiped away that easily."

"I guess that's true." Conan admitted. For the moment, it would be for the best to just accept this. Really, it was probably going to have to be the stance he took on dealing with Heiji moving forward, for both their sakes. "So? Did you pick up anything from when you were being introduced to the students? I got the feeling that at least one of them was watching us, but..."

"Yeah, I got that feelin' too." Heiji noted, turning their gaze in the direction of the Professor and his students. "Wasn't able ta figure out which one, though, but in the end, they'll probably come fer me themselves before the end of the night."

"But did you really have to come as _Kazuha-chan_?" Conan asked, deciding that perhaps, he hadn't completely accepted it just yet after all. "Their main target is you, right? Wouldn't they have just tried to corner you anyways, even if you kept Kazuha-chan from coming?"

"Idiot, don't be stupid." Closing their eyes, Heiji let out another sigh. "They're usin' Kazuha ta get ta me, right? If I showed up here alone, without her, she'd still be in danger. Even if I hid her in that home, there's a chance that they might be able to use that fairy mirror ta find a path to it, so I'd rather not take that risk. If they think she's here, alone, they've got no reason ta double check."

"But couldn't they just use that mirror to check?" Conan asked. "From the sound of it, it would be able to see right through something like this."

"True." Heiji admitted. "But they didn't bring it with 'em. Since they were expectin' me ta show up, there was no way they were going ta keep somethin' on them that would let me sense 'em, especially since they already knew who their target was tonight."

"That does make sense." Conan admitted. "So, I take it your plan is to get captured on purpose then to expose them? Sounds pretty risky, Hattori."

There was something else there, he sensed that much, something that Heiji still wasn't telling him. As much as he wanted to confirm what he was slowly starting to suspect, at the same time, it wasn't a question that he found he could bring himself to ask. If such a thing really were true, it might be best to pretend he'd never realized it.

From the sound of it, he doubted the person in question even knew. Most likely, that was the way Heiji wanted to keep it. Given his own position, he wasn't exactly in the place to lecture people for telling lies.

"Not like I haven't done things like this before." Heiji noted, shrugging their shoulders. "I'm not so careless that I plan on lettin' a _mere human_ get the better of me."

"Sorry, for being a mere human." The retort hadn't been directed at him, but Conan couldn't help but grumble a little anyways.

"Ah, sorry, sorry. I didn't mean you, Kudo!" Apparently he had given up on trying to act as Kazuha for the time being, a hand straying behind their neck, rubbing it a bit. "I know! How about I share with ya somethin' I learned, by way of apology?"

"No, you don't need to apologize for something like that." Conan stated, a slight frown on his face. "But if you know something about the case, I _would_ like to know it."

"It's about the third victim." Heiji told him. "At first, I thought that there wasn't any connection between her an' Professor Clarke, but when I asked around with some of her coworkers, it turned out there was one with her an' his students. Three of 'em, in fact. A week before her murder, it seems like both Duncan Brun and Irving Greene showed up at the shop she works at, as customers."

"I see." Placing a hand against his chin in thought, Conan's brows furrowed. He had been so focused on the idea that the first two victims had both attended the Professor's lectures, that he hadn't considered the connection wouldn't be the same this time. "And? What about the third?"

"As fer the third, that Sienna woman apparently came ta pick 'em up because they were takin' too long ta come back ta the hotel." Heiji noted. "In other words, out of the three of them, only Aoi hasn't had any contact with her before."

"Considering that she's also the only one who had an alibi for the first murder, it's possible she might be innocent." Conan noted. "It seems like it's pretty solid too, her alibi."

"Yeah, that neechan's probably off the hook." Heiji noted, leaning back against the wall, clearly lost in thought. "Which means the culprit is one of the other three, most likely. Well, there's a chance that they could be workin' together, but I think if all four of 'em were in on it, the Professor would probably notice."

"If the motive really is as you described, it doesn't sound likely, either." Conan noted. "If I recall, Sienna Radcliff wasn't even with the Professor when the very first victim was killed."

"She wasn't, but her father _was_." Heiji stated. "That's the other thing that I found out. He used ta work with the Professor until he died of an illness around three years ago. When she entered college, his daughter naturally decided that she wanted ta study underneath the man her father spoke so highly of."

"Three years ago?" Conan asked. "I don't suppose you know around when his illness began."

"Who knows. I couldn't find that much out." Heiji said, shaking their head. "But there's a chance that the daughter might have inherited the father's grudge, if we assume that there's a chance that he might have been the original culprit. Of course, the same could be said of the other two. From the sound of it, they both respected him quite a bit, her father."

"Where did you find this out from anyways, Hattori? The Professor?" Conan asked.

"No, he didn't mention it." Heiji said. "I'm not sure he withheld it on purpose or not, but I get the feelin' that he's not as ready ta accept the idea that one of his own might be capable of doin' somethin' like this as he thinks he is. I went over ta England a bit ta ask around among some of his colleagues."

"Illegal entry." Conan couldn't help but comment.

"Shut up." Darting their gaze away from Conan, Heiji could only pout. "That's the thanks I get fer goin' the extra mile, I guess."

"Relax, I'm just joking, Hattori." Conan reassured him, unable to help but grin, in spite of how strange this all was. "Still, promise me that you'll be careful. You're putting yourself in a lot of danger here, and I don't like it. I'm amazed that you managed to convince Kazuha-chan."

"Believe me, it wasn't easy." Heiji noted. "She's a worrywart, just like ya are, Kudo."

"Someone has to worry about you, since you don't seem to do much of it yourself." Conan noted, letting out a long. "In any case, I'm going to inform Hakuba of what you just told me. I'd rather we narrow down the culprit before they have a chance to make a move on you. Unless you've got some kind of problem with that?"

"No, no problem." Heiji said, shaking their head. "The faster they're caught, the better. One way or another, I'd rather make tonight."

"Well, after you provoked them like that, I don't doubt they'll probably try and do something tonight, one way or another." Conan told him. "I don't suppose I can convince you to wear a transmitter, can I, Hattori?"

"Do I really seem so unreliable?" Heiji asked, arching their brows, just peeking out from underneath their domino mask. "Well, I suppose if it gives ya peace of mind, I won't stop ya, Kudo. Hopefully it'll end like ya said, an' we're able ta figure out their identity before that. But if not... if they give me a chance, I'm not about ta pass up on it."

"You still need to know where they're hiding the mirror, don't you?" Conan asked.

"That's right." Heiji said. "An' if there's even the smallest chance that they might take me straight to it, I can't miss that chance. It's not somethin' that should be out in this world, an' if someone else were to find it without bein' aware of wha tit was... nothin' good would come of that."

"Nothing good has come of it already." Conan noted, narrowing his eyes. "Unless there's something still yet that you haven't told me about this mirror."

"Well, let's just say if ya happen ta find it before I do, whatever ya do, don't touch it." There was a serious expression carried in their eyes, the green of them borrowed from Kazuha. It was the kind of expression that felt uncharacteristic for the _both_ of them, really. "Call me right away, an' I'll come an' collect it when I can."

"Is it really that dangerous?" Conan asked.

"Fer ya? Extremely." Not giving him a chance to press the issue, Heiji stood back up straight, a smile flashing across their borrowed face. "Now then, let's go see if we can't find _Hakuba-kun_ among all these people. You'll help me right, _Conan-kun_ ~?"

"...you're having fun with this, aren't you?"

"Maybe just a little."

* * *

"I see. So the third victim was connected to three of the suspect after all. That certainly is valuable information."

Just when he thought he ought to look for her, Toyama Kazuha had ended up coming to him. Considering her rather cold words earlier, it had surprised him at first, but when she had explained that there was something that she had forgotten to tell him earlier, it suddenly made a bit more sense.

A message from the still absent Hattori Heiji, as it were. The party had been in full swing for around two hours, and yet there was still no trace of the Osakan detective. Had he really decided to simply not come? When he had called Megure to check, it seemed as if no other victims had turned up yet, which ruled out the chance that he was engrossed in a crime scene investigation at the moment.

Where exactly _was_ he, then?

"Well, hopefully it might be a bit of use ta yer investigation." Kazuha said simply. "Heiji seems ta think that Aoi-han person is probably innocent, he said ta say that much as well."

"I wouldn't go so far as to call her innocent, but at the moment, she's certainly the one under the least amount of suspicion." Hakuba noted. "Most likely it's either Duncan Brun or Irving Greene, one of those two."

"Eh? Not Sienna-neechan?" Conan asked, tilting his head. "She was there too, you know."

"That's quite true, but I find it hard to imagine a young lady as that being behind this chain of murders." Hakuba noted. "It would require quite a bit of strength to transport the corpses of the victims, and she most likely would have still been in high school when the first few murders happened. Even if we assume that her father was the original culprit, it seems more likely that the other two would be the ones to feel the need to pick back up his work."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that myself." For a moment, it almost seemed as if Kazuha hadn't exactly meant to say that- not out loud, at the very least. "It seems a bit wrong ta rule out a woman based on somethin' like physical strength. We're not all cookie cutter molds, ya know."

"While that is true, from what I've heard from the Professor, Sienna-san seems to be a rather bookish type." Hakuba noted with a smile. "That said, it is possible she might be working together with one of them, in which case there is not one culprit, but two. But it's more likely that there's only one."

"More importantly, Toyama-san, there actually is something that I wish to ask of you." Hakuba said, deciding to change the subject for the moment. "Has Hattori-kun not arrived yet?"

"If he had, he could have just told ya all that himself." Kazuha noted.

"A fair point." Hakuba admitted. "I do have another question, though. If you don't mind me asking, from where is it that the two of you got the invitations from? I understand that Conan-kun here received his from Professor Clarke himself, however..."

"The invitations?" Kazuha asked, frowning a little. "Actually, I can't really say. They just came in the mail, with no letter, an' no return address on them."

"Was there perhaps anything in there with them?" Hakuba asked, feeling a bead of cold sweat trickling down the back of his neck. He had thought that something was strange when he had spotted her here, but it couldn't possibly be...? "Like say, perhaps, some kind of blank piece of paper?"

"A blank piece of paper?" Kazuha asked, shaking her head. "No, there was nothin' like that. But if it's somethin' like a blank piece of paper, then..."

"Ah, Kazuha-neechan!" Suddenly piping up after being silent for so long, Conan reached up to take the girl's hand, giving it a somewhat insistent tug. "I need to go the bathroom! Come with me!"

"Do forgive me, Conan-kun, this won't take but a second longer." Not missing the deliberate nature of the boy's act, Hakuba felt only a greater need to press forward. "Did something come to mind when I mentioned a blank piece of paper? Do you perhaps know someone who received such a thing recently?"

"Yeah, around a week ago now." Kazuha told him, nodding her head. "But what is it, about this blank of piece of paper? Heiji sure got a scary look on his face when he got it!"

"Eh? You mean to say that the one who got it was Hattori-kun?" Feeling something drop in his chest, a cold feeling washing over him, Hakuba found himself taking a step back. If something like that were true, then perhaps instead of a lead, what Heiji had really found was...

"Toyama-san. Is there any chance that you remember where it was that you and Hattori-kun parted ways?" Hakuba asked, swallowing a little. Even if they weren't on good terms, there was no way that he could leave him to that kind of fate!

"Mmm, maybe around a block or two away from our hotel?" Kazuha asked, putting a finger to her chin in thought. "Why do ya ask? Ya've got a rather scary look on yer face, Hakuba-kun."

"No, there's no reason." Shaking his head, Hakuba forced a smile onto his face. There was no way he could give her cause for alarm. There was still a chance that he might be mistaken. "Well then, I'm afraid that I must take my leave here. There's something I just remembered that I needed to do."

He could only hope that he was mistaken... and that if he wasn't, it wasn't too late.

* * *

"If you were trying to get rid of him, that was a cruel way to do it, Hattori."

"I don't know what ya mean~." Clasping their hands behind their back, Heiji watched as Hakuba's back retreated into the crowd. "I simply just answered his questions. An' it's Kazuha, _Kazuha_! Did ya forget, _Conan-kun_ ~?"

"You really are having fun with this, aren't you?" Conan asked, shooting a rather incredulous look up in his friend's direction. "Hakuba's suspicious of you already, you should try and be a bit more careful of him."

"Well, if it advances too far, I can just erase his memories." Heiji noted with a shrug, turning on their heel. Narrowing their eyes slightly, they shifted their gaze, a trace of a smile crossing their face. "Now then, what happened ta havin' ta go the bathroom?"

"I was just trying to keep you from saying more than you needed to." Conan told him, heaving a sigh. "But apparently, I shouldn't have even bothered."

"So it would seem~!" Almost chirping, Heiji took a step forward. It seemed it was for the best that he had taken the chance to send Hakuba away just then. He already knew full well that he couldn't sense what he did, but even so, it still made him feel a bit distant. But he couldn't show Kudo that kind of expression, especially not on a face that wasn't his own.

But still, he hadn't thought that they would have made a move so soon. It would seem that his words had done an even better job at provoking them than he had anticipated, enough for them to throw caution to the wind. Well, if this spell was what he thought it was, then it would be difficult indeed for anyone to trace them, at the very least, through normal methods.

Well, this time, the method through which he would be traced had nothing to do with the supernatural. That was probably one surprise they weren't counting on- and he had any number of those ready for them.

"I have somethin' I need ta give ya, while I still remember." Crouching down in front of Conan, Heiji reached into the clasp that he had borrowed from Kazuha, opening it up. Reaching in, a faint smile crossed his face as it traced of the edges of the charm he had placed inside, before he found what he was actually searching for.

"A coin locker key?" Conan asked, taking it from him, studying it for a moment.

"I stored some of my things in there beforehand." Heiji told him, standing straight once more. "At the station closest ta the hotel. Sorry ta ask ya this, but do ya think ya could bring them with ya when ya come find me?"

"Come find... oi, Hattori!"

Before the shattering light bulbs plunged the room into darkness, and filled the room with the sound of panic, Heiji slipped in one last word. After getting this far, it wouldn't do if his cover was blown.

" _Ka-zu-ha~!_ "


	24. Having Tricks Up Your Sleeves is Much Easier When the Sleeves Aren't Metaphorical

He had no reason to look back at the hotel when he did, but Hakuba Saguru found himself doing so anyways. In hindsight, perhaps it was some form of instinct, for when he did, he found that the lights on the floor where the party hall was had gone out, dousing the whole floor into a shade of black.

That, he thought, couldn't be normal. It was very much his instincts that told him that this _couldn't_ have been a coincidence- that something must have been going on up there, right now, at this moment. And that he should very much be up there, and not down here. Hattori Heiji could come later- dealing with what was happening right now, in front of him, came first.

"Pardon me, Baaya, but I'm afraid I'll have to actually have you hold on bringing the car around. Something just came up." Hanging up his phone without further notice, Hakuba turned on his heel, racing back towards the hotel, keeping his eyes trained on that floor. When it was the only one in the hotel that didn't glimmer with light, even against the darkness of the night sky, it stood out.

If something had happened to Kazuha because he had left her there... he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. A detective's job wasn't just to solve crimes, but it was also to protect the living- as best as they could manage.

Out of the corner of his eye, as he dashed back into the hotel, he could have sworn that the power had flickered on back on that floor. He could have checked to make sure, but he didn't want to waste the time in doing so, already finding himself making for the staircase. It was not exactly the kind of climb that he wanted to make, and taking the elevator was easier, but he couldn't risk getting stuck in it, or the extra time it would take to get back down there if it skipped the floor due to it's loss of power. In light of that, this way was much faster.

How had the culprit managed it so that power was lost only on that floor? He'd think about that later- checking out the situation came first.

Taking only a moment to collect himself and catch his breath, Hakuba braced himself for what he would find. He had nothing to light his way other than his cellphone, but it would have to be enough. Grasping the handle of the door to the floor the party hall was on, he opened it up, preparing himself for whatever it was that he might find.

It wasn't chaos, at the very least. He could tell that much right away, since it appeared as if the lights really had come back on. Letting out a long breath, Hakuba's shoulders slumped. At the very least, if a dead body had turned up in the middle of a crowded hall after a blackout, it would have caused quite the stir, so that probably wasn't the case.

First things first, locate Professor Clarke and Conan. Hopefully, the Toyama girl would be with him still.

Ducking back into the party hall, giving something of a nervous smile towards the man checking the invitations as he did so, Hakuba began to scout the area, trying to find those he was looking for. Professor Clarke's location was rather easy to make out, seeing as he hadn't moved much- he was the center of the party, so it was only natural that he would be staying at the center of the room. From this point, he couldn't quite tell if all of his students were present, blocked as they were by other concerned partygoers, checking to see if the old man was alright.

Conan, on the other hand, was more of a challenge. Finding a rather short child in a sea of adults was difficult, to say the least, especially when there were this many of them.

Perhaps he was heading the Professor's way himself. In that case, that should be the point from which he should start.

His instincts, once again, seemed correct.

"Hakuba-niichan!"

Edogawa Conan, sans Toyama Kazuha, and looking as if this was a matter to be concerned about. In one hand, he seemed to clutch what appeared to be a coin locker key, a piece of puzzlement in what otherwise seemed as if it were a clear cut scene.

"Conan-kun." Hakuba turned to face him. "I noticed the power had been cut on this floor, so I came back. Where is Toyama-san?"

Opening and then shutting his mouth, as if he had nearly caught himself saying something he shouldn't, Conan instead shook his head. "I don't know. She was with me when the power went out, but when it came out, I couldn't find her anywhere."

"So you were going to check and see if she wasn't the only one who vanished during the blackout?" Hakuba asked, giving him a sage nod of his head. "If they took her, they couldn't have possibly gotten that far. I didn't run into anyone while using the stairs, and they wouldn't have been able to use the elevator on this floor during the blackout. They wouldn't have been able to go far, not with an unconscious girl in tow. Perhaps they're still in the hotel, in another room."

In light of that, he had to wonder as to why the culprit had chosen to take such an action. Even with the blackout, it would have been very difficult for them to escape from here- if they wanted her dead, then killing her during it would have been much faster, and much easier. So then, why...?

It wasn't as if they were so close to their identity that they needed to take drastic actions. Though they had narrowed down the suspects, they still had no solid proof of anything, much less any conclusive idea as to which of the two men was actually behind the recent string of serial murders.

"Perhaps." There was something in Conan's expression that told him he was rather unconvinced of his theory, but for the moment, Hakuba didn't press it. "Let's check on the students."

"I'm sure Toyama-san will be alright." Hakuba noted, glancing down towards him. "Have you contacted Hattori-kun yet?"

There was a slight flinch at his words, one that was mostly masked by the glint of his glasses- in light of recent events, he had apparently discarded his mask. "No, not yet. I haven't had the chance too yet."

"It might be best to wait until we get more concrete information." Hakuba mused. He was still bothered by the fact that Heiji had received one of those blank pieces of paper in the mail, the culprit's warning, of a sorts, as well as the mysterious tip that he had gotten, that had pulled him away from the party.

There was a chance he might already be dead.

But if that was the case, then what point was there in targeting Kazuha? If the intention had been to use her as bait, there was no need to do something like that if the one that they wanted was already dead. Come to think of it though, if Heiji really had already been killed, then by that logic, they had been barking up the wrong tree completely- from the sound of it, Professor Clarke's students, all four of them, had been by his side for several hours, not giving them nearly enough time to kill anyone.

Perhaps then he was still alive, and the plan was to use Kazuha to lure him out somewhere. Still, even if that was the case, they would need a method to leave the hotel with her... which again, wasn't simple to do.

Something about this didn't make sense.

"Yeah, you're probably right, Hakuba-niichan." Conan said, nodding his head. For a moment, Hakuba had expected him to protest- but rather, he'd actually agreed quite easily.

Something about _that_ was a bit odd as well.

Still, he really should focus on the matter at hand, and not whatever strange things were going on with Hattori Heiji. Even if he did increasingly suspect that the two matters were somehow connected.

"Professor Clarke?" Making his way through the crowd, keeping an eye out for Conan, making sure that he didn't fall back into it, pushed back by those who didn't care to notice him, Hakuba approached the old man. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, little Saguru." Glancing up at him, the Professor gave him a rather warm smile. "Yes, everything is quite alright. I see that you brought Conan-kun with you." Casting a glance behind them, his lips twisted into a frown- though there was something almost knowing about it. "Is that young lady not with you?"

"We lost track of Kazuha-neechan during the blackout, and can't find her." Conan told him, shaking his head. "Have you seen her?"

"No, I haven't." Professor Clarke told him, it now his turn to shake his head. "Perhaps Duncan will run into her, though. I believe he left to go check with the hotel staff as to what the cause of the loss of power was."

"Now that you mention it, he's not here." Conan said, turning his attention towards the remaining students, of which there were only two. Narrowing his eyes behind his glasses, Conan mentally noted that of those who had left, both of them were still on the suspect- the ones who remained with Aoi Gorman and Irving Greene. "Where's Sienna-neechan?"

"She went with him, I believe." Professor Clarke said. "Do you need something from her?"

"No, I was just wondering." Conan told him, shaking his head. He would have hoped that it would have been narrowed down to just one at this point, but... two was better than three. He just had to hope that Heiji actually knew what he was doing, and that he wasn't about to go and get himself killed.

Honestly, that guy... did he know just how much worry he caused for other people? He couldn't even imagine what was going through Kazuha's head right now- the _real_ Kazuha- as she waited for him to come back, knowing that if she left, she might only put him in more peril. He couldn't imagine that it sat well with her.

...hm?

"Well, I hope that you find your friend." Professor Clarke said. "Don't let this old man hold you up any longer in your search for her."

"Thank you, Professor. I'm sure we will." Hakuba said, nodding his head, stepping back with a slight frown. If his instincts weren't wrong- and they hadn't been, thus far- it would seem as if the professor almost had some idea of what was happening... though if he knew which of his students was behind this, he wasn't saying.

Since someone's life might be on the line, even with whatever issues he might have with accepting the truth, he couldn't imagine that he wouldn't say it if he knew. He knew him too well for that.

Still, from the sound of it, they had both been here when the power came back on. Were it not for the way the professor was acting, Hakuba would have suspected that they well and truly had been barking up the wrong tree, but if that wasn't the case, then... how did they get her out of here in such a short amount of time?

From the glint he caught in Conan's eyes, it would seem as if he had some kind of idea. It was enough for him to follow the young boy through the crowd as he made his way out of it. He seemed to be almost fiddling with one of the buttons of his jacket... a nervous habit of some kind?

It wasn't until they were almost on the other side of the room, away from the professor's group, that Conan turned back to look on him, an expression on his face that he almost might describe as smug. If he hadn't already known that the child was wise beyond his years, it would have taken him by surprise- but instead, he knew that it likely meant he'd discovered something.

"You know, I know a Professor too." Conan began, reaching up to place his hands on the rim of his glasses. "He's an inventor."

"A inventor, is it?" Hakuba asked, briefly wondering what this had to do with anything, but instead decided to let him finish.

"Yeah." Conan said, nodding his head. "He's invented some pretty useful stuff! Like _these_."

With a press of his finger, one of the lenses of his glasses lit up, like a display. It appeared to be something close to radar, Hakuba thought, and as a single dot emerged on the screen, he watched as that smug expression on the boy's face only grew more so.

"They're tracking glasses." Conan told him. "Just in case, I placed a transmitter on Kazuha-neechan's shoe. If we follow this, we'll find her right away."

Well, actually, Heiji had taken one and put it on himself at some point, without him even noticing it. That guy... if he was going to do something like that, he could just tell him! For the moment, the dot didn't appear to be moving, though he couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing.

The way that Heiji had been acting just before the room had gone dark... he had definitely sensed something, something that no one else could. As much as it annoyed him to have to think along these lines, the first thing that came to mind was some kind of magic spell. He'd said as much- that there was a high chance that the culprit possessed more magic items at their disposal other than just the fairy's mirror.

Thanks to Heiji himself, he knew that using magic, certain forms of instantaneous travel were possible. If he applied those two things together, then...

Now he understood why they had been invited to the party. If it was here, the culprit would have all the time in the world to set something up, all without drawing suspicion to themselves. He almost wanted to go back to the professor and inquire who it was that had the most involvement with the planning, but on the off chance that the culprit wasn't working alone, he didn't want to risk tipping them off.

Right now, the best thing to do was follow the trail that Heiji had left him. At the end of it, one way or another, he'd find the culprit.

Ah, but first...

"Can you call a car around, Hakuba-niichan?" Conan asked, glancing up towards him. "It's a bit far for us to walk, and it would be faster if we went in a car."

"Shouldn't we contact Inspector Megure first?" Hakuba asked, keeping his voice low. "Toyama-san is most likely in grave danger."

"Not just yet. We'll call them once we get there, and check out the situation." Conan said. "If they suddenly come rushing in without knowing exactly where she is, won't she be in more danger?"

"You have a point." Hakuba admitted, nodding his head. "Alright, I'll a car. We'll head straight there."

"Ah, actually," holding up the coin locker key, Conan gave him an almost sheepish smile, "...there's a place we need to stop by first."

* * *

Honestly, had knocking him out really been necessary?

As much as he hated to admit it, it had caught him rather off guard- he had been so focused on the magic, that he hadn't expected the culprit to use more conventional methods. It was a good thing that he had chosen the kind of shapeshifting magic that wouldn't break if he passed out, otherwise the jig would already be up.

He couldn't yet sense anyone else here, but he also couldn't sense the fairy's mirror either. In a way, that was both good and bad- without it here, the culprit was unlikely to see past his spell, but if the culprit didn't come back with it, he would have to get it's location from them later. He'd been tasked with returning it, as well as capturing the one who had stolen it in the first place, but even beyond that, it wasn't the sort of thing he could just allow to fall into unknowing hands.

In a way, that would be almost worse than the wrong hands.

Speaking of hands, though... as he thought, the ropes around his wrists had been tied tight. Dimly wondering if this was what it was like to be a distressed damsel, Heiji reconfirmed that there were ones twined tightly around his ankles as well. On the other hand, there was nothing around his mouth, leading him to wonder if it was because the culprit was that confident that no one would hear them, or if it was because they liked that sort of thing.

Maybe they wanted to hear the changelings that they so hated beg for their lives? If that was the case, the only thing that he could feel for them was disgust.

Well that, and a bit impressed- this was a one way spell that had sent him here- wherever this was, and since he didn't think that they would risk disappearing right at the same time as him, they probably hadn't come along with him. In others, they had tied these ropes in complete darkness, yet they were this secure? Either they had a lot of experience with tying knots, or they had some pretty weird kinks.

Though he guessed technically it was possible for both to be true.

Not that it mattered much anyways. He wasn't human, so something like this was no problem for him. Touching one of his fingers against the ropes, he let a trail of golden sparks fly from it. Wringing out his wrists as the ropes uncoiled themselves, Heiji let out a small frown, moving on to the ones around his legs. The rope burn was a bit annoying, but he'd deal with them later. He was lousy at healing magic, and always used way more of it than he actually needed, and the last thing he wanted to do right now was waste magic.

He might be made of the stuff, as people seemed to be rather quick to remind him, but that didn't mean his supply was _limitless_. Just a lot greater than most people's.

He doubted that the culprit actually knew how to draw from the truly limitless magic stored within the fairy's mirror, even if they did bring it with them, but he wasn't about to take his chances. He might have brushed it off as if it were no big deal, but he still couldn't afford to underestimate his opponent. Just like in the human world, doing so could very well result in death.

Especially because the culprit this time really _did_ want to kill him.

Getting to his feet, Heiji grimaced a little, stooping down to remove the heels he had borrowed from Kazuha. Seriously, how was it that women walked in these things? It hadn't been his _first_ time wearing them, but it never proved to be less of a challenge. The ones who wore the really tall ones both had his respect, and his continued bafflement as to why one would choose to subject one to such things. As it were, they would probably only get in his way, so for the moment, he simply set them aside.

Kazuha would get mad at him if he lost them, after all.

He got the feeling that he probably wasn't on the ground level of whatever building it was that he was in- and that the door was probably locked, or perhaps blocked by something. Giving the handle a twist, he quickly confirmed as much, before turning on his heel to look around the room. It was dark, but since there was literally nothing there, it didn't really matter much anyways. The only source of light was...

"Mmm yeah, definitely not the ground floor." Peering out the window, having to stand a bit on his toes in order to see out of it properly, he briefly grumbled at the height difference between himself and Kazuha. "Even I would probably die if I fell from this height."

Well, it wasn't as if his goal right now was to _escape_. At the moment, he was very much right where he wanted to be.

An abandoned building of some kind... and a tall one, at that. He didn't have much longer to dwell on either of those things, before the sound of footsteps caught his ears. Narrowing his eyes, Heiji cast his attention back towards the ropes he had just gotten out of, letting out a long sigh.

He had only _just_ gotten out of them, and now he was going to have to go back into them? So soon?

What a pain.

* * *

"Are you sure it's here?"

"Unless the culprit discovered the tracker, there's probably no mistake."

Though he still harbored some doubts about this tracking device of his, the resolution in Conan's voice was enough to make him shut his mouth for the moment. Child though he may be, he didn't think that he would put his faith on something he didn't think would work, especially not when it was the life of a friend on the line.

Even if he _had_ stopped first to collect what had turned out to simply be a _duffel bag_ , of all things. Though he hadn't yet seen the contents, there was, most likely a reason for it, so Hakuba merely left it at that. Considering that he had brought it with him when they had left the car behind, in spite of the large bag being somewhat difficult for someone of his size to carry, it must have been somehow important.

He'd offered to carry it for him, of course, but Conan had turned him down.

"Still I don't see how they were able to get Toyama-san out of the hotel so quickly." Hakuba mused, planting a hand on his chin, his brows furrowing together. "Not to mention so far. Do they have an accomplice?"

Even if they did, how on earth had they managed to get another human being past the lobby without anyone noticing? Had they possibly knocked her out, and then transported her in something else? It was the answer that made the most sense, and yet somehow, something about it didn't sit quite right with him.

As did many things about this case, to be honest. He felt as if he didn't have all the details, and it was beginning to bother him- especially when he sensed that what he lacked, Heiji, and by that extent, Conan, knew.

"Well, let's not sweat the small details." There was something in Conan's tone that felt as if he really wanted to get away from this topic, as fast as possible. "What's important now is getting Kazuha-neechan out of there safely."

There was conviction in his voice as he said that, Hakuba recognized- more so than he ever would have expected from a first grade boy. Conviction, but not _concern_ \- at least, not so deeply as he felt there should be in this situation. Not to mention, he hadn't made a move even once to try and contact Heiji. He was either very confident in Toyama Kazuha, or there was something else going on here.

He'd been getting that feeling _a lot_ lately.

"What do we know about this building?" Conan asked, letting his gaze follow it for as much as he could, a bit of a difficult thing with his current short stature. It must have been around at least twenty stories, and while it was a bit hard to determine with the tracking glasses, he got the impression that Heiji was probably on one of the higher floors. The dot had started moving briefly- but by the time that they had double backed to the building on foot, it had stopped moving again.

He didn't really think Heiji was the type to need _rescuing_ , even in this situation, but he must have planted that tracker on himself for a reason. If he had a choice, he'd rather not have Hakuba here- but calling Professor Agasa to come and pick him up would have taken much longer than getting Hakuba to bring his own car around. He suspected that he most likely had his driver- that housekeeper of his, waiting somewhere nearby the hotel, and it would appear that he had been right in that.

"I had Baaya look into it. She just sent me the information." Hakuba remarked, glancing down at his phone, all while keeping half an eye on the building in question. They hadn't yet seen anyone go in or out of it- but that didn't mean that the culprit wasn't already one step ahead of them. "Apparently the developers lost funding for it when it was nearly finished, and it's been sitting abandoned ever since then. It's fairly well known among urban explorers."

"The perfect place to hide someone, at least temporarily." Conan noted, his lips twisting into a frown. He'd hoped to glean something of a clue towards the culprit's identity from it, but it would seem it wasn't that simple. Something that was widely circulated around the web would have been simple enough for anyone to find, even if they weren't familiar with the area.

In that case then, there was nothing to do but-

"I'm going to go check out the situation."

"Check out the situation...?" Hakuba asked, his brows furrowing. "The culprit might still be in there, Conan-kun, you could be putting yourself in danger. Allow me to go instead."

"You didn't stop me the last time." Conan noted, arching a brow. "Back at the sunset mansion."

"That was a _completely different_ situation." Hakuba noted. "It was highly unlikely that an old grandmother who needed to set traps in order to kill anyone would have done anything to cause you harm."

"It's fine here too." Conan said, giving him a bright, almost disarming smile. "Don't worry, Hakuba-niichan! If I see anything suspicious, I'll make sure to hide! I'm small, so I can fit in all sorts of places. I'd definitely stick out a lot less than you would."

"But-" Hakuba opened up his mouth to protest, only to find himself cut short again, Conan adjusting the strap of the bag so that he could carry it with more ease.

"In the meantime, watch the building, Hakuba-niichan, and let me know if you see anyone. If I see anything, I'll send you a mail." Conan told him. Before he got a chance to protest again, he quickly slipped out of their hiding place. He'd already picked out a place from which he could enter the building from, and it probably wouldn't be too much of a challenge to find his way in from there.

As for what he was going to find when he entered... that he had no idea. Resting one hand on the frame of his tracking glasses, he cast his gaze once more skyward, hoping that this would work out as smoothly as Heiji hoped. Sure, it was better than putting Kazuha in actual danger, but...

But perhaps it wasn't all just about protecting Kazuha from danger. As much as it was a question that he knew he shouldn't ask, he couldn't help but want confirmation of his theory- that Kazuha was never meant as bait, but had always been a _target_ herself. If that really were true, then it wasn't just about keeping her out of danger- it was also about protecting her from that truth, a truth which he suspected she herself wasn't aware of.

Of course, he wouldn't change his opinion of her at all if it were true, but the small part of himself that couldn't help but let his curiosity get the better of him simply wanted to know for wouldn't ask though. If Heiji was going through such lengths to hide the truth even from the person herself, then he had no right to.

He couldn't blame him, really. If you lived all your life believing you were one thing, only to find out you were another? That wasn't the kind of shock that just anyone could recover from.

Probably no one knew that better than Heiji himself.

* * *

The sound of heels striding across the pavement gave him all the answer that he needed. As they came to a halt in front of the door of the room, he could hear something being dragged out of the way. Blocked, not locked, he mentally noted.

What's more, he could sense it. He wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing that they had brought the fairy's mirror with them, really. On one hand, it made the job of collecting it all the easier. On the other, it meant that there was a chance that they might doubt who he appeared to be- thought he didn't think his spell could be seen through that easily, not by someone who had never met Kazuha before.

Perhaps they had simply brought it along to double check. He didn't know if that provided him any comfort or not. Motivated by hate though they were, at the very least, they hadn't yet allowed themselves to be consumed by it to the point that they were willing to make a mistake.

If it really _was_ the former, then perhaps tying himself back up again hadn't been the greatest idea. But there was information that he still needed- even if they had brought the mirror with them, in the end, he still didn't know anything about the one who they had bought it from. If there was a chance that they might let that information slip when they had their guard down, then well... a little danger was more than worth it.

Asking them directly was out of the question. He'd already tried that route, and found it of little use. Whoever this black market broker was, they covered their tracks well- to the point where they sealed the mouths of those who had dealt with them.

He'd tried asking her, that Nakao Aiko woman. Her case was bad enough- using the black magic book that she had obtained in order to bring the urban legend of the Kuchisake-onna to life. Still, none of her victims in that case had died, though they were likely to be scarred for the rest of their lives, in the most obvious of ways.

But now people had lost their lives. Now, it wasn't a game any longer- not that it ever had been, at least, not to him. To the black market broker, on the other hand... that very well might be what this was. Some kind of game.

It wasn't as if Nakao Aiko knew nothing- it was that she couldn't say anything. Her lips had been sealed, and she looked fearful to even try- even more frightened than she had been when she'd run into the fake Kuchisake-onna, the one that he had created with Kazuha's cooperation, if not her full knowledge.

So if asking directly didn't work, maybe a slip of the tongue _would_. And to that end, he needed to pretend a little longer to be a distressed damsel- even if the idea pissed him off.

Well, whatever the case, even if he couldn't get the information he wanted from them, there was no way that he would allow the culprit to escape tonight. Since the fairy's mirror was here, he'd have no issue with handing them over to Kudo- to the fae queen, the return of their mirror was doubtlessly more important than the capture of someone who had only obtained it secondhand.

As for the one who had stolen it in the first place... sorry, Kudo, but that one wasn't going to be punished by human law. It wasn't as if they could be- though their actions had lead to harm against humans, and those who the law would at least still view as humans, they hadn't actually committed any actual crimes against humans yet. At least, nothing that could be punished by law.

But to that end, he would need information.

He could only hope that Sienna Radcliff was the type to rant.

* * *

God, what was he even doing?

To be sure, he understood the importance of keeping watch, in order to ensure that no unexpected elements went in after him. What he didn't understand, however was the merits of allowing a child to go in and do reconnaissance for him, no matter how fearless that child seemed. He hadn't been able to stop him, but he had half a mind to march in there right now and drag him to safety.

He should be the one checking out the building, not a first grade child! If that Mouri Ran girl were to ever learn about this, he would likely never hear the end of it, even though it hadn't been his idea. Was he _always_ doing this sort of thing?

Reaching into his pocket, Hakuba pulled out his phone. There had been no new messages as of yet, from Conan, or from anyone else. He half wished that he had Heiji's phone number right about now, but he'd never gotten it from the Osakan detective- though he doubted he would have freely given it to him in the first place.

Was he alive? Was he dead? Had he already been called out by the culprit, using his childhood friend as bait? Was he already in the same building that he was now keeping under watch, or was he still on his way? That Hakuba didn't have the answer to.

Why hadn't he mentioned something about having received a warning from the culprit in the first place? Even Conan seemed to know about it. He understood that they weren't on good terms, but if the culprit was targeting his life, from the very start, from the sound of it, then wouldn't it be important to tell people that? From the sound of it, it didn't seem as if he'd even mentioned it to the police.

Had he been trying to bait them in turn? Was this why the culprit had chosen such a method this time?

Too much about this case simply didn't make sense, no matter how he tried to turn it over in his head. Akako's earlier words weren't doing much to help matters either, adding another layer onto everything that was going on.

But there was one thing that he knew he could do- and should do. Now that they had the location of where it was that Kazuha was likely being held, he had no reason to hold back any longer. If they could stop the culprit in their tracks here, as well as save her before she became another victim, then that would be ideal.

Even if it had almost sounded as if Conan didn't want him to, for reasons that he couldn't understand. Surely in this situation, wouldn't it be for the best?

_"If I told you that Hattori-kun isn't working in the interest of the police this time, what would you do, Hakuba-kun?"_

In hindsight, it almost seemed as if those words had been a challenge now. But even if he wasn't, for some reason, the situation had changed, and assistance was needed. If careless action was what Conan had been worried about, then he could rest assured that he would do no such thing- unlike some detectives that he could name, he preceded with a degree of care, always, as a rule.

Drawing in a deep breath, Hakuba made the call. When a voice on the other end of the line answered, he steeled himself for taking control of both the situation, and the remaining unknowns.

"Inspector Megure? This is Hakuba Saguru. It's quite important, I'm afraid."


	25. Hattori Heiji's Very Bad No Good Evening

That damn Hattori- he couldn't have picked a bag that was a bit easier for him to carry?

Readjusting the strap, pulling up the bottom so that it didn't just dangle along the ground, Conan muttered underneath his breath about feeling like a pack mule. If he was going to have him lug something like this around, the least he could have done was give him one of those candies so that he could-

...oh god, he was _seriously_ about to think that, wasn't he. Groaning to himself, he couldn't help but feel like Heiji would be just as hard to pry an antidote- if one could call it as such- from as Haibara was. He would have thought it would have been the other way around, but that was, apparently, something the two complete opposites had in common.

Even more so than he'd first thought. Science and magic, and both of them somehow being no more useful than the other to him. What a life he lead.

At least he could find where Hattori was, he thought to himself, double checking the dot on his glasses that indicated his location. That slippery bastard- he hadn't even noticed him taking one off of him, much less putting it on. If he was going to do something like this, he could have _at least_ told him ahead of time.

Probably wasn't used to having allies, Conan dimly realized, not when it came to this. He'd have to give him some pointers once this was all over- and by pointers, he of course meant a lecture. Kazuha had every reason in the world to be worried out of her mind about this reckless idiot- who else would come up with a plan that involved himself getting captured on purpose? And what's more, while disguised as someone else?

...oh, right.

He would. And _had_. Heiji had even _been_ there for that- groaning, Conan couldn't help but wonder if he'd drawn inspiration for this tactic from _him_ , and suddenly found himself half wanting to sink into the floor.

Speaking of the floor, though...

Scrambling into a hiding place, Conan made out the sound of heels striking the floor- though the acoustics in this place were different from those of the hotel's lobby, he recognized the sound as not belonging to the heels Heiji had likely borrowed from Kazuha. If it wasn't him, then...

It could only be the culprit.

Holding his breath as they passed him by, Conan let it out only once he was sure they had gone. They hadn't seemed to notice him, but he'd sure noticed them- though in truth, he'd already figured out their identity by the sound of their footsteps.

Since Aoi Gorman had been removed from the suspect pool, there was only one other suspect left that wore heels. It made sense- Kazuha had only gotten the invitation in the mail _after_ Heiji had shown up at the hotel. And since he was just leaving as the other three entered, the only one of Professor Clarke's pupils that would have actually been introduced to him at the time was the same one who had served them tea.

Sienna Radcliff.

The original culprit, of the murders four years ago, must have been her father then, as originally deduced. For some reason, four years after the fact, she had decided to pick up where her father had left off- but in a completely different country this time.

There must have been something that had spurred her into action, Conan thought. Was it the fairy's mirror? No, he didn't think that was just something that could fall into her hands, not from the way Heiji talked about it, and not from what he'd briefly overheard from his conversation with the fae queen. It had been stolen, he recalled.

Had Sienna Radcliff stole it herself? Or...

As he thought, there were things about this case that Heiji wasn't telling him. One, at least, he suspected he knew.

But he felt no need to ask Heiji as to whether or not _Kazuha_ was a changeling. All of his actions indicated that was something he wanted to prevent from getting out in the open- and it wasn't hard to guess that the reason for that was because of the person herself, who likely had no idea.

The idea of babies being taken didn't sit right with him, but if it was a crime, then it was a crime that the Toyama Kazuha he knew had no say in. Truth was important, but it wasn't his call this time to expose it. If Heiji wanted to keep it under wraps for the rest of their lives, he'd let him have it.

Creeping down the hall, careful to check around the corners that she wasn't waiting for him, Conan slowly followed the dot on his tracking glasses. It hadn't moved at all since he'd arrived here, so he was going to guess that Heiji was currently confined somewhere. But why? If it was him, he could probably slip out of any bonds he'd been put in with ease.

Was it to let the culprit's guard down? Perhaps there was information that he still needed, that he thought he could get easier this way. Either way, he wasn't about to let his friend put himself in danger, so sitting tight and waiting for him wasn't an option he'd even considered.

Besides, he had to deliver him his change of clothes- which was all that was in this duffel. He probably didn't want to run around in a party dress and heels forever.

Still, whoever designed this place should have been fired, Conan thought to himself, cracking open the door to another staircase. Instead of one consistent staircase going up the length of the building, there was a new one connection each floor- on the opposite end of the hall. No small wonder this place was slated to be demolished.

Cracking open the door to the staircase, carefully checking to make sure he was alone, he glanced upwards. One more floor, from the look of it.

Carefully shutting the door behind him, he made his way up the flight of stairs, holding the bag up so that it didn't drag over them. Cracking open the door at the top, he peered through it, faintly making out a bit of light coming from one of the rooms at the end of the hall.

Heiji was there, he thought.

And he wasn't alone, from the sound of it.

* * *

"Wake up."

It was amazing how much the tone of her voice had changed, Heiji couldn't help but think to himself. Not to mention, was kicking him really necessary? Maybe it really was too much trouble to have tied himself back up, information or no information.

The cough that he let out was genuine- the startled befuddlement as he pretended to wake up, not so much. That was going to leave a bruise, he thought dimly.

At the very least, he didn't think she had seen through his magic yet. Good. The longer he could keep her from peering into the fairy's mirror, which he quickly took note of, hanging off her hip, the better. Of course, the moment things started looking dangerous, he'd stop pretending to be some kind of distressed damsel, and start his counterattack. He wasn't an idiot, after all.

"W-where?" Trying to pull himself up into a sitting position was actually pretty hard, with both his legs and arms bound, so the struggle to do so was pretty genuine. "You're!"

"We were introduced at the party, weren't we?" Far from the sweet tone that she had taken when she'd served him tea, Sienna Radcliff's voice was filled with distaste. "You imposter human."

As he thought, this woman really did have serious problems with changelings. He was starting to get the picture now- as he'd deduced with Kudo earlier, her father was probably the one behind the murders from four years ago. Most likely, it was after his real daughter had returned to him, likely after she'd killed her own changeling herself.

He had no evidence of that latter claim, of course, but anyone who was so quick to use acid to desecrate a corpse must have had more than a few screws lose. If that victim that had been pulled out of the river wasn't her first, it would explain that in part. As for the rest...

This time, he did let his gaze drift to the fairy's mirror, masking his inner thoughts. With something like that by her side, it was possible that her thoughts had gotten corrupted. There had been a sizeable gap between the first victim, and the mirror being stolen, and he got the feeling it wasn't simply because the broker was looking for just the right person to sell it to.

No, they'd probably known just who they needed to make a deal with. Without that thing, it was possible that Sienna Radcliff might have never resorted to murder- again, at least, if his theory was correct.

Even from here, he could sense it giving off magic. That worked in his favor- the more of it's residual magic that he absorbed, the more powerful he'd be. As long as he didn't take in too much, there would be no problems- though that didn't seem as if it would become a problem.

If anything, it was actually giving off a bit less residual magic than he would have thought. That kind of worried him a bit, but... well, he'd worry about it when it came to it.

"Imposter?" Heiji asked. "What do ya mean?"

"I see. So you don't know." Taking a step forward, Sienna set down the bag that she had brought with her- somehow, Heiji got the feeling he'd rather not become acquainted with any of it's contents, though he could make a good guess as to what was in there. He was human enough that getting stabbed in the heart would definitely kill him.

"Don't know what!?" Heiji demanded, narrowing his eyes. "Ya must be the one. The serial killer that Heiji is tryin' ta find!"

"That's right." That confession was frank- she must have thought she'd already gotten away with it, then. "I am. You don't have to worry though. Once I'm done with you, your boyfriend won't be far behind you."

" _Boy_ -!" The squeak that escaped him was genuine, Kazuha's borrowed voice hitting a rather high note. Who even told her something like that? Was it the broker? Way to rub salt in a wound, reminding him of something that he hadn't managed to do just yet! "Heiji's not my boyfriend!"

"Regardless." Unzipping the bag, Sienna reached in, producing a knife. She'd cleaned it, but there was no doubt that it was the same knife used in the other three murders. "I can't have you lot wandering around, pretending to be human like the rest of us. If I get rid of you, the real human can come back."

"Are ya crazy?" Furrowing her brows, Heiji kept up the act of playing dumb. "What makes ya think I'm some kind of fake in the first place?!"

Had she said this kind of crap to her victims? That just pissed him off. There were some things that people were better off just not knowing. He couldn't have imagined what the fake Sienna Radcliff had been feeling, when the real one appeared before her, and ended her life.

As far as he was concerned, she was the real victim here.

"Do you know what a changeling is?" Sienna asked. "It's not as common a belief in Japan, but of course, they exist here as well. You're proof of that, Toyama Kazuha. Well, not that that's your true name, though."

"Changeling?" Heiji asked, even as he lightly touched the ropes that bound his hands behind his back, loosening them a bit with magic. Judging from the fact that she didn't react to that, she must have not been able to sense magic on her own. "Like I said before, are ya crazy? Somethin' like that obviously isn't real, ya idiot!"

"You have such a boyfriend, and you don't believe?" Arching a brow, Sienna took a step forward, pointing the knife towards what she assumed was her target this time. "I know. For so many years, I grew up in a world that wasn't my own, robbed of my family. I was fortunate, you know. When I made my way back, my father believed everything that I said."

"What, ya kill yer double or somethin'?" Heiji asked.

"I haven't killed anyone." Sienna said- and her tone was so frank, he knew that she believed it to be true. "Murder is only murder if it's done to a human. You, and the others before you, are just fake humans. Fairies and monsters wearing human skin. What's wrong with ridding the world of that which doesn't belong?"

"Then yer father _murdered_ the first four victims?" Heiji asked. "Heiji told me, about the London cases."

"As I said, that which is not human cannot be murdered." Sienna noted, taking a step forward, drawing within Heiji's personal bubble. "I thought that he might have had something to do with them, but I don't know for sure until recently. That's when I got _this_ ," resting her free hand on the fairy's mirror, a content smile that gave him chills spread over her face, "...and the truth became clear to me."

But she was right where he wanted her now. Good, if he kept this up, and pressed a little bit more...

Well, there was also a chance that she might simply remove it from her hip and use it instead. It was a gamble, but either way, it wasn't a gamble that he could possibly lose.

"A mirror?" Heiji asked. "What can some of kind crummy mirror do?"

"Show me the truth." As he thought, she went for the mirror, removing it from the tie that dangled it off her belt. Narrowing his eyes, he let the ropes fall from his wrists, all while keeping one eye on the knife, still in her other hand.

The fairy's mirror. No bigger than the size of her palm, no more ornate than a simple hand mirror, but a dreadful item nonetheless. As she lifted it up to her eye, Heiji drew in a breath, reacting the moment she reacted, golden sparks crackling from his hand as the ropes around his ankles fell away too.

"You're not-!"

"Since ya know that, looks like the time fer pretend is over!" Lunging forward, Heiji couldn't help but let a fierce grin surface on his borrowed face. "I'll be havin' ya hand that back over ta me!"

Evading the wild slash that she made with her knife, Heiji knocked it out of her hand, faintly hearing it clatter to the ground a distance behind him. Gripping the mirror tight in her other hand, Sienna put some distance between the two, a clear expression on her face telling him that she hadn't expected this turn of events, and was trying to think of what to do from here.

"What's the matter?" Taking a step forward of his own, Heiji arched a brow. "Didn't ya send me one of yer blank papers too, red neechan? Thought ya'd leap at the chance ta try an' kill me. Or did ya just not expect me ta show up in this form?"

"You... you trickster!" Sienna spat, clutching the mirror tighter. "Where's the real one!?"

" _Real_ one?" Heiji asked, a bemused expression on his face. "Weren't ya the one just ramblin' about Kazuha bein' a fake? Ya should really pick a story an' stick with it, red neechan."

If he could keep her away from both the knife and the bag, it would be his win. Even borrowing Kazuha's appearance, he was still stronger than this woman. He'd rather not find out what she would do with acid when backed into a corner though- if she did something as foolish as try and kill herself, then he'd definitely never get any answers from her.

And since he'd already decided to let Kudo have her, it wasn't like he could depend on the fae folk to ask her from where she had gotten their mirror either. It would be a pain to explain to the queen the reason why he couldn't present her the one who had been killing their kindred, but this was a contest against him he'd rather not win.

The fairy's mirror he'd be taking with him, though.

Shifting on his heel, grateful he'd kicked off Kazuha's heels before getting into this scrap, Heiji closed the distance between her. He didn't know about her father, but the reason as to why she had only targeted women thus far was becoming apparent to him- she wasn't much of a fighter. There was too much of a risk, having a victim who could potentially fight back against her, and judging from the brief expression of panic he saw on her face, it seemed like that was something she wanted to avoid.

Grabbing her wrist, Heiji pulled her towards him, reaching out to take the fairy's mirror from her. First things first, he'd get this thing away from her, and then after that, he'd leave the rest to Kudo, who had surely tracked him here, and was probably waiting-

...outside?

Eyes widening as his fingers brushed against the mirror, he felt the spark before he even saw it. As if some kind of trigger had been ignited, a crackle of magic shot out in the air, powerful enough to force him back, throwing him as far as the door. Hitting his head against the door frame hard enough to draw blood, Heiji groaned, only dimly making out what he was damn sure was the sound of Kudo's voice calling out his name.

Of course he hadn't waited outside, the little jerk. Didn't he say to leave this part to him?

He didn't have long to dwell on that- he felt it, all at once. As if he were in a vacuum, it was as if the air in the room had reversed- not the air, no, but rather, the flow of magic. It was being in- into the mirror.

Damn thing had been _booby trapped_.

And he'd set it off.

Swearing underneath his breath as he felt his own magic escaping from him, he recalled the stern warning that he had gotten from the fae queen. Since Sienna had already lived in the other world for quite some time, he had thought that it wouldn't be a problem, but if that damn bastard of a broker had planned for something like this then...

"Oi, Hattori, what's going on!?"

Scooping up Conan, he tucked him under one arm, not even needing the sound of Sienna's scream to drown out his protests.

"We're runnin', Kudo!"

* * *

"What the hell was that Hattori!?"

"Booby trap." Taking a moment to catch his breath, Heiji let Conan down. They probably had earned a few minutes, which was good- he'd need them. "Things have taken a bad turn."

"So you just left her there?" Conan asked, narrowing his eyes even as Heiji took the duffel bag off of him, unzipping it. "She was obviously in pain!"

"An' there was nothin' I could do about it at that exact second, unless ya wanted ta end up as a dried husk, Kudo." Heiji noted, dumping out the contents onto the floor. "Good thing ya came up here though. It would have been a pain ta fight like this."

"Fight?" Conan asked, his expression a mixture between incredulity and alarm. "What do you mean, Hattori? Explain."

"Ya know how I told ya that if ya happen ta find the fairy's mirror, ya shouldn't touch it?" Heiji asked, pausing for a moment to pick Conan up, turning him so that he faced the other way. "Fairy magic is infinite, an' the same goes fer their items- which have a nasty habit of leakin'. Probably ta punish outsiders who use 'em. There's only so much magic a human body can stand though."

"Makes sense." He actually wasn't really sure if it did or didn't, but since Heiji was the one who knew about this stuff, he wasn't about to refute him. Glancing back behind him, and then very quickly turning his head back around, Conan cleared his throat. "Still doesn't explain _that_."

Resisting the urge to role his eyes, reminding himself that Conan knew nothing of magic, Heiji gathered together the change of clothes that he had prepared. Fighting in Kazuha's party dress was not his idea of a good time- and he was pretty sure Kazuha would agree with him there, not when she'd spent so much money buying a new one only for him to end up wearing it instead.

Besides, with the spell as it was, it wasn't as if he could return to his real form while wearing it anyways. Fighting in Kazuha's party dress, in her form... he'd rather not.

Fighting buck ass naked, of course, was a _total_ no.

"When fairy magic overloads in a human body, bad things can happen." Heiji continued, before pausing. "Ah, but don't worry, as long as we take the fairy's mirror away from her an' deal with the berserk magic, that red neechan should be able ta recover. It's just... that wasn't supposed ta happen."

"What do you mean?" Conan asked, trying not to pay attention to the sounds of fabric shifting.

"She lived in the fairy's world before, right? If any human should be able to resist that kind of thing, it's one who's been involved with changelings. Since it didn't seem like she kept it on her all the time on top of that, I wasn't that worried." Heiji told him. "But that mirror was rigged with a spell ahead of time."

"By the one who sold it to her?" Conan asked, not needing to look back to know that Heiji had frozen at his question.

"Yeah. Probably set off when I touched it." Heiji told him frankly. "It sparked a vacuum effect, more than she could handle, in short order. An' ta think, _I'm_ the one whose usually drainin' magic from people." Letting out a faint snort, he reached over, turning Conan back around again, ignoring the grumpy expression on his face as he did so. "Usually in cases like these, the magic goes berserk an' takes on a form of it's own, since it doesn't have anywhere else ta go."

"An' _that_ ," Heiji noted, reaching underneath his shirt, carefully slipping Kazuha's charm from around his neck. No sooner than he had, her shape gave way to that of his own, the shapeshifting spell breaking. "...is what I need ta fight, an' why ya need ta get out of here, Kudo."

"I can help-!"

"Thanks but," stuffing the clothes that Kazuha had lent him, alongside her charm, within the duffel bag, Heiji dropped it back into Conan's arms. Kazuha was going to kill him if he didn't get those heels back, though. "...this isn't somethin' yer tranquilizer dart can handle, Kudo. Appreciate it though."

Narrowing his eyes for a long moment, Conan made out of the faint sound of _something_ upstairs- something that he couldn't quite place. It sure as hell didn't sound _human_ , at any rate.

"Hear that?" Heiji said, gaze drifting in that direction. "That means ya should run. I'll try an' keep it locked down in this building. Can't have somethin' like that runnin' the streets of Tokyo, or I'll be out of a job."

More like he'd have a hell of a lot more work to do, but _damage control_ wasn't the same thing as protection.

That black market broker... there was no doubt that they had planned for this. It was only natural that it's theft would be reported to him, and that he would chase it's trail. As both a high school detective and a guardian, there was no way that he could turn a blind eye to the chain of serial murders going on. If he had been the one holding it at the time, then...

A shudder ran down his spine- that dry husk thing hadn't just been a figure of speech. A human could survive having all of their magic stolen from them, but _he_ , on the other hand... there wouldn't be much left of him but his physical form after that. If that had been the broker's Plan A, what was happening now was without a doubt, Plan B.

If he couldn't eliminate the one responsible for keeping the boundary intact, then causing a commotion that would be hard to explain away was the next best option, huh?

"Are you alright, Hattori?" Conan asked- crap, it must have shown on his face.

"I'm fine." Holding up a hand, Heiji flashed a smile. "I just got a fair share of my own magic sucked out of me. I'll recover."

"I'm no expert in this, but that doesn't sound good." Conan noted, arching a brow.

" _I'll manage_." Heiji stressed, glancing down at him. "But I can't protect ya, fight that thing, an' keep it from breechin' the building all at the same time. So if ya don't mind, Kudo, haul yer ass outta here already."

There was a long pause then, as the two of them stared each other down- before Conan let out a long sigh. He didn't like the idea of being helpless in this situation, but Heiji had a point. He couldn't think of anything that he could do, and if he stayed behind, he might only just weigh him down.

"You can bring her back, can't you?" Conan asked. "Sienna-san?"

"I can." Heiji told him, giving him a firm nod of his head. "Trust me, Kudo."

"I do." With that said, Conan gave his friend one last long look, before he turned on his heel, tightly gripping the bag and running as fast as his damnably small legs could carry him. He'd need to get Hakuba away from the building somehow- he didn't want him to get mixed up in this.

To be honest, he'd only really understood half of what Heiji was saying- but he'd impressed enough upon him to let him know that the situation was less than ideal.

And to confirm beyond the shadow of a doubt that someone had it in for him.

* * *

Watching as Conan hurriedly made his way down the hall, Heiji let out a long sigh. _Manage_ , he'd said- but the truth was, even in that brief instant, more of his magic had been taken from him that he would like to admit. He would have to be careful with what remained- especially since he had already used up a fair amount of it crafting the shapeshifting magic.

Still, there was no way that he could let that thing rampage out of control. It wasn't just that he didn't want it to get out in the open, but even if she was a murderer, he couldn't say that Sienna exactly deserved this.

She'd been used as a tool. He didn't know how the broker had found out about her father, nor that she would be in the country, but they were obviously more well connected than he'd first thought. The trap that they had set had confirmed one thing for him- it wasn't just a coincidence that thus far, all incidents had occurred in areas that he had involvement in. They were deliberately aiming for him.

To what end? To expose him? No, if they wanted to do that, wouldn't there be easier ways?

He'd think about it later. For now, he had a job to do.

Reaching into his hoodie's pocket, he pulled out four scraps of white paper, tossing them into the air in front of him. With a crackle, their forms twisted and changed, becoming black smoke, before taking solid shape, a quartet of shikigami appearing before him, answering his summons. He wouldn't need to provide magic to them, so they would be useful here.

"Watch the front." He instructed one, before turning to the next. "Watch over Kudo."

He didn't even grumble at their use of young master, as they vanished into the floor, off to perform their tasks. "The two of ya are with me. We're goin' ta finish this before it gets bothersome."

Placing his right hand against his left arm, a crackle of sparks trailed from it, taking the shape of an object- a sword, one that he held tight in his right hand. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to use it much, but it would probably be necessary to cut that red neechan out of it. This wasn't his first rodeo with this type of thing, but that didn't stop it from being a pain in the ass.

Whoever that damn broker was, he'd find them, and bring everything crashing down on them. He didn't know what their problem with him was, but if this was how they wanted to play, then he would be more than happy to reply in kind.

"Let's go, the two of ya." Glancing towards the two remaining shikigami, Heiji drew in a long breath, advancing back the way he had fled from. At the very least, with the trap spell having been activated, it wouldn't be able to be used again- he'd be able to claim the fairy's mirror with ease then, and bring an end to this grisly case.

He was damn glad he'd chased off Hakuba before. Pain in the ass would have probably called the police by now. The last thing he wanted to have to deal with was cops trying to breech the building during all of this. Not to mention, it would be a pain in the ass to try and explain why Kazuha wasn't where she was supposed to be- he supposed a glamour would be enough to fool the police if it came to it, but he'd rather it not.

Making his way up the stairs, back the way he came, he could hear the sounds of chaos up above. Though he was largely unconscious when it happened, from what he'd heard from others, it sounded like a more violent version of his own so-called poltergeist phenomena- fitting, he thought, for something that was so similar in nature, only much worse.

Peering into the hall, Heiji swore underneath his breath. Like he thought, the berserk magic had taken on a form of it's own, a writhing beast that almost seemed to cradle what had become it's host- though she could barely been seen within the slithery mass of magic. He doubted she was conscious anymore. It was hard to describe- it's form wasn't stable, not by a long shot, and even as he watched it, he seemed to change shape again.

Thankfully, the vacuum effect seemed to have stopped. There was no way he could take in that much excess magic by himself, but as long as he managed to get the fairy's mirror away from it, it should calm down and disappear on it's own.

"Yer on guard duty." Glancing to the shikigami on his right, Heiji then turned his attention to the one flanking his left. "An' yer with me, on offense. Make sure not ta hurt the human inside. She needs ta be in one piece ta confess ta the police about her crimes."

"Understood, young master." The shikigami acknowledged. "Be careful."

"I'm always careful!" Heiji told it, even though both he and it knew it wasn't true.

Breathing in, and then out, Heiji gripped his sword tighter, before throwing open the door, catching the mass' attention at once. It didn't have much of a mind of it's own, simply lashing out at everything it could, which was both helpful and troublesome, all at once.

"Now then," grinning from ear to ear, unable to help feel a little excited in spite of everything, Heiji stood his ground, "...why don't ya come at me, ya ugly slime!"

_Fast_! Were it not for the shikigami he'd placed on defense, he might not have had time to get out of the way of it's lunging attack in time. It was much faster than others of it's type that he had dealt with before. Even then, the shikigami's barrier didn't last much longer before it broke through, shoving it aside as if were still a mere piece of paper.

Fast and aggressive... if this thing had absorbed Sienna's hate, that would only make it more of a pain in the ass.

Still, he'd fought faster- in better condition, granted, but still.

Raising his sword to counter it's blow, it's form changing to look suspiciously like claws, Heiji gritted his teeth, feeling himself being forced back. Swearing under his breath, he kicked it's chest, shoving it back a distance from him, allowing him a moment to catch his breath- and to realize something.

Even when he'd directly touched it, he'd failed to absorb any of it's magic. That was normal- absorbing the magic around him was as natural as it was breathing. It was why he'd had so much trouble with poltergeist phenomena before he'd known- and while there were some supernatural creatures who could protect themselves, even then, touching them directly should work.

If he couldn't dispel it by absorbing it, then what the hell was he supposed to do? Seal it?

Even if he wanted to do that, he didn't have anything to seal it with. The only thing he could think of was the fairy's mirror itself, but without weakening the mass first, how the hell was he supposed to get it?

He wasn't given long to think about it, before the mass lurched at him again. Pivoting on his heel, he avoided it's blow, and launched a counterattack of his own- a testing strike on it's side, as it passed by him. It seemed to work, for only a moment- before the gash closed, leaving him to swear very audibly this time.

He was starting to get the feeling that this one _wasn't_ like the others he'd fought before. Whoever this black market broker was, they must have been one hell of a magician. And what's more, given the way it completely ignored the second shikigami he'd left behind to turn back to focus on him, he was almost pretty damn sure this thing was aiming for him on purpose now.

Again, it lurched forward, just as fast before. Breaking it's strike with his sword, Heiji felt himself skid backwards, before shoving it off again, with another kick to the torso. At least it's attack patterns were simple, he thought, putting a bit more distance between the two. It might be his goal to keep it contained within the building, but the narrow hallways of this place weren't exactly doing him any favors.

If he could just...

Crap, it was coming again. Blocking it's strike again, Heiji readied himself to force it back once more, before it found it pushing against him instead, throwing him with no small degree of force into the wall. Letting out a cough, he shook his head, trying to get rid of the stars from his vision- only to find the mass barreling down on him once more.

This time, he took the wall with him.

With nothing but empty air meeting his back, Heiji swore. Snapping his fingers to summon the shikigami that he'd left behind, he'd probably at least be able to break his fall, but frankly, that was the least of his worries right now.

Because not only had the mass gotten out, he could just faintly make out the outline of police cars in the dark, parked around the building. Sword still held tight in one hand, Heiji grabbed the hood of his hoodie, yanking it up even as he fell, swearing vehemently as if he'd forgotten all other forms of communication other than foul mouthed language.

Why the hell were _the police_ here?

* * *

"You called Inspector Megure!?"

"Is there some problem with that, Conan-kun?" He must have raised his voice louder than he had thought, if the portly inspector had overheard him. "Hakuba-kun informed me that Kazuha-chan is being held hostage in there."

"She's not, she's not!" Conan said quickly, shaking his head. "I went to check for myself, and she was nowhere in there!"

Of all the things... he had even told Hakuba to hold off on calling the police until _after_ he had confirmed with him the situation. And how had they gotten here so quickly? Of all the luck... if they went inside the building now, he would have a tough time explaining things. Though it seemed that Heiji had some kind of ability to erase memories, given how sluggish he had been the morning after, it probably wasn't one that came easily.

He didn't understand that much about magic, but with his magic drained as it was, would that even be something he could do this time around?

"Are you sure?" Megure asked, a deep frown on his face. "Hakuba-kun seemed convinced that she was."

"I thought for sure when you came hurrying out of there, it was because you had found her." Hakuba observed, a matching frown on his face. If he didn't miss his guess, it almost sounded as if he was trying to keep the police _away_ from the building- and himself as well. For a brief moment, it didn't make any sense, before he once more recalled Akako's taunting words from earlier.

Did this have something to do with the fact that Hattori Heiji wasn't working with the police? Had he already arrived here, before them? If that was the case, what on earth was going on in that building now?

"At any rate, you should let the police do a sweep of the area, Conan-kun." Hakuba told him. "I'm sure they'll be able to do a more thorough sweep of the area."

"That's..." Opening and closing his mouth, realizing that he didn't have a good excuse as to why they couldn't, he racked his brain for something. At the very least, he could delay them a little bit- and hopefully by that time, Hattori would have gotten everything underneath control.

He had no idea what it was that Hattori planned on doing, but whatever it was, he'd better do it fast. He seemed confident, at least, but he knew him well enough than to put all of his faith in that confidence.

"Is there something you need to tell us, Conan-kun?" Takagi piped up, picking up on the small boy's hesitant mood. He wasn't acting like himself, Conan realized.

"Ah, no." Conan said, shaking his head. "It's just that rather than waste time here, shouldn't we go back to the hotel, where Kazuha-neechan was taken in the first place? There might be more clues there. And it looks like the culprit hasn't come here, so..."

"We've already sent Shiratori-kun and Chiba-kun to the hotel." Megure noted. "You have nothing to worry about there. Hakuba-kun told me that you traced Kazuha-chan to this building though... are you quite sure you were mistaken?"

"Yeah." Nodding his head, Conan glanced over towards it. "I looked over the place from top to bottom, and I didn't see anything or anyone."

"Still, we should give another check, just to be sure." Hakuba noted. "It could be that Toyama-san has simply been hidden in a place that you didn't think to look."

He really couldn't argue with that, not without looking suspicious. Clutching the strap of the duffel bag, grateful that nobody had thought to check it's contents- he would have a tough time explaining why the clothes that the so-called Kazuha had worn at the party were now tucked inside.

"You're right." Conan said slowly. "But there's still a chance that Kazuha-neechan might have escaped, and the culprit is still planning on coming here without knowing that. In that case, shouldn't you move your patrol cars further away?"

"That's true." Megure admitted, turning his head. "Okay, move the patrol cars away, and dim the lights as well. If the culprit really comes here, it'll be a good chance to capture them."

Fighting the urge to let out a sigh of relief, Conan couldn't relax just yet. He'd bought some time, but he could only hope that it was enough for Hattori to fully get the situation under...

...control?

The sound of something crumbling.

"Oi, what's that!?"

Slowly turning his head, a trickle of cold sweat on the back of his neck, Conan's eyes went wide, freezing in place. Even though it was dark, he could make out the form of a human falling from where a piece of the outer wall had seemingly collapsed in on itself, hitting the ground with a sound that couldn't possibly fail to attract attention.

As his eyes fell on the writhing mass that seemed to be falling with him, Edogawa Conan couldn't help but think once more that perhaps in this world, there really were some things that weren't meant to be known.


End file.
